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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23429353">It's Raining Sunshine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLilyoftheValley/pseuds/TheLilyoftheValley'>TheLilyoftheValley</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AUs, Adrinette, Adrinette April, Adrinette April 2020, Comfort, F/M, Fluff oneshots, Pranks, basically going to go a bit slower and update every so often, collection of separate oneshots, generally lots of fluff, not daily updates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 10:35:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23429353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLilyoftheValley/pseuds/TheLilyoftheValley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For Adrinette April 2020. Collection of separate oneshots. It started with an umbrella in the rain. When two innocent teens fall for each other... well, it rained sunshine after that...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Adrinette April 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Day 1: Pranks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aged-Up/University AU. When his lady is down in the dumps, Adrien enacts a little surprise to get her back to her groove.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(I'm in desperate need of fluff since the past few months have been absolutely insane. Doing Adrinette April seems like a good way to supply that fluff for me. </p>
<p>Like the last time I did a monthly challenge, I have a few things. I haven't written much of the Love Square before, so this is acting as a bit of practice for me. I'm hoping to get the characters as close to canon as I can, though sometimes I may stick with what my gut tells me and improvise.</p>
<p>I think that's it on things before the fic. Hope you all enjoy!)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. Gotta love how my summary says "teens" and yet starts out with them being adults in their late university years.</p>
<p>Featured AU: Aged-Up/University AU</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 1: Pranks</p>
<p>The mischievous grin spread across his face, stretching from ear to ear and showcasing all of the evil nature the boy had in his body.</p>
<p>"Adrien! Nino's on the phone! He wants to talk to you."</p>
<p>Blonde hair swished as the model leaned back in his wooden chair, green eyes locked on the slightly cracked-open door in front of him. Fingers from both his hands tangled in the golden strands at the back of his head as a quiet chuckle came from his mouth. The chair was placed in the perfect position for the show that was about to take place.</p>
<p>Afternoon sunlight flooded in from the kitchen's small windows, the lime-green curtains framing the panes of glass. Used cooking utensils littered the counter-top, as Adrien's excitement had gotten the better of him before he could clean and put away the supplies. A sense of serenity settled over the kitchen-dining room space, with only one thing out of place…</p>
<p>Just over the door to the little kitchen-dining room area, balancing dangerously on the rim of the door and the smooth boards surrounding the doorway, laid a perfectly whipped cream pie.</p>
<p>It had taken him hours to get everything right. He hadn't wanted to get a store-bought pie, especially since his baker girlfriend didn't deserve the store-quality stuff and when she was the one teaching him how to make tasty baked goods. So, he had started from scratch, rolling out the dough and making it look perfect. He had even placed a small cherry on top and blessed it with a chef's kiss of approval once it was finally finished.</p>
<p>Hanging the pie over the door? Piece of cake, or rather, piece of cream pie. It had taken a bit of time to make sure the pie wouldn't fall before his girlfriend was under it, but after five minutes of struggle, the pie was just a simple tap away from plummeting to the floor below.</p>
<p>Or rather, anyone that pushed open the door.</p>
<p>Having Nino call her and ask to speak with him had been the final part of the plan. Nino had been hesitant at first, but after a promise to do the same thing if he wanted to prank Alya, the other man had dropped off to call Marinette.</p>
<p>And now, the fruits of his labor…</p>
<p>Adrien snickered as he moved one of the hands from behind his head to cup around one side of his mouth. "I'm in here, Marinette!"</p>
<p>Hurried footsteps echoed through the small hallway leading up to the kitchen-dining room area. Adrien picked up the sound of his girlfriend's voice, the few bits of frustration painting her words.</p>
<p>"One moment, Nino. I think he's in the kitchen…"</p>
<p>Oh, if she was slightly frustrated now…</p>
<p>Adrien was pretty sure that the evil smile he usually had whenever he was pulling a fast one on an akuma as Chat was no doubt clear on his face. He was going to get in so much trouble, but part of the fun was seeing the look on her face-</p>
<p>"Adrien!" Marinette's form appeared in the doorway, her hand already pushing the door open. "Nino wants to talk with-"</p>
<p>Cream pie fell from above and hit her splat on the top of her head.</p>
<p>Laughter erupted from the blonde model as surprise colored Marinette's face, her eyes wide and lips pursed in shock.</p>
<p>Color rose on her cheeks, and her face caught in a struggle between laughing and being angry. "Adrien! What- Why- Wait a minute-" She glared down at the phone still in her outstretched hand. "Were you in on this too?!"</p>
<p>"<em>Sorry, dudette."</em> Nino's voice drifted up from the phone. <em>"He wanted to do it, and you know how important the bro code is."</em></p>
<p>"Thanks, Nino!" Adrien called.</p>
<p>Marinette groaned as her free hand lifted up to touch the mess on her head. "Ugh, I hate both of you…"</p>
<p>Adrien rose from his chair, watching his girlfriend scoop a bit of cream from her finger and stick it in her mouth. "How's it tasting?"</p>
<p>"Hm…" Her nose scrunched up, and her eyes looked up to the side as she assessed the confection. "A little too sweet, but otherwise pretty well-balanced."</p>
<p>He stepped toward her, nimbly grabbing a ruby-red towel from the counter. "Hey! Score! I got the recipe right!"</p>
<p>A finger waved at him. "I said it was close, but no dice, mister," she said, a warm smile growing on her face. As he spread out the towel in his hand, she crossed her arms over her chest. "And you couldn't just give me the pie?"</p>
<p>"You've been in a <em>paws</em>atively miserable mood the past few days, my wonderful lady." He tilted his head to the side as he wiped at stray drops of cream at her cheek. "Figured you'd need a little shock and some harmless fun to help brighten your day."</p>
<p>"Oh, this is harmless fun?"</p>
<p>"Certainly." The white of his teeth flashed in the sunlight as he gazed down at her, catching her arms dropping to her side.</p>
<p>Bluebell eyes with a mischievous twinkle in them drew his green eyes in, and Adrien heard the faint sound of alarm bells ringing in his head. "I don't know…" Marinette said, pulling out the syllables of the words. "Pranks can get pretty dangerous…"</p>
<p>He didn't see the hand reaching for the cream pie until it was too late.</p>
<p>In a flash, white colored his vision. Adrien ducked back, but there was nothing he could do at that point. Crust at the bottom of the pie tin hit his nose, and the layer of cream that had stuck with the pie smooshed against his face.</p>
<p>A laugh sounded from behind the tin pan. "Like I said," Marinette chuckled. "Pranks can get pretty dangerous when you aren't looking for them."</p>
<p>His hand wrenched the tin away, plopping it on the counter behind him. The towel fell to the floor as he crossed his arms, an eyebrow raising at the cheesy smile gracing Marinette's face.</p>
<p>Pink darted out from his mouth, and his tongue scooped a little bit of the cream from the side of his lips. "You were right," Adrien said, a serious look on his face for the absolutely serious situation they were in.</p>
<p>Marinette raised an eyebrow to match her boyfriend's. "And?"</p>
<p>"The cream <em>is</em> a little too sweet."</p>
<p>A giggle came from her as she dropped her head and shook it, soon growing into a full laugh as she continued to shake her head at the goofball her boyfriend was.</p>
<p>Gentle fingers bumped the bottom of her chin, and Marinette looked up at Adrien. "Thank you, you big goof, for making me a cream pie and then ceremoniously dropping it on my head."</p>
<p>"Hey, it's all part of the boyfriend code."</p>
<p>"I doubt it, but-" her feet rose to her tip-toes, and she pressed a quick kiss to Adrien's cheek "-it is very much appreciated."</p>
<p>The moment her feet lowered her back down, Adrien dropped his head to steal a kiss from her lips. "I'm glad," he said, a wink prompting her to roll her eyes. "I can't stand to see such a wonderful woman so upset."</p>
<p>"<em>Hey, dudes? Am I still needed, or are you guys going to get super lovey-dovey right now?"</em></p>
<p>Both jumped, then rolled their eyes as Marinette held up the phone so Nino could see both of them. "I think you're good, pal," Adrien said, hand already waving goodbye. "Thanks for the help!"</p>
<p>Nino paused, lifting a hand to his bearded chin. <em>"You think Alya and I could do something like this?"</em></p>
<p>"I mean, you could, though I don't think she'd appreciate getting a pie to the face," Marinette said, one corner of her mouth lifting higher than the other. "It'd probably get you the complete opposite reaction instead."</p>
<p>An overdramatic sigh came from the phone. <em>"Guess it's back to the drawing board then. See you love-birds later! Kiss each other lots and all that gross stuff!" </em></p>
<p>Adrien's palm covered the camera as he pushed the phone down with another roll of his eyes. "Bye, Nino!"</p>
<p>"<em>See ya, dude and dudette!"</em></p>
<p>Her thumb hit the red circle and Nino's face blurred away from the screen.</p>
<p>Adrien ducked for the red towel behind him, his ears catching the shuffle of Marinette's phone slipping into her pocket. He straightened, pushing his face against the soft material. "Guess we better get cleaned up now."</p>
<p>He turned, pulling the towel back from his face to wipe at hers, only to feel soft lips touch his own.</p>
<p>"I dunno." Mischief filled the whisper tickling his ear. "Nino did say to kiss lots. Isn't that part of the 'bro code' where you need to do what your guy friend advises?"</p>
<p>"You know, I think I did see something like that in there…"</p>
<p>Little flecks of the frosting touched his lips as they leaned in, playful little kisses running over lips and cheeks. Eyes closed as Adrien's hand cupped Marinette's face, and as time drew on, the two bathed in the afternoon light.</p>
<p>Marinette was the first to lean back after a few minutes, her hand going up to the drying cream in her hair. "Alright, I've had my fun. Time to get this out of my hair."</p>
<p>Adrien handed her the towel in his other hand and headed over to the drawer where they kept more hand towels. As he pulled the drawer open, he heard Marinette pipe up behind him.</p>
<p>"Thank you, Adrien. You're a total dorkasarus, but a loveable one nonetheless."</p>
<p>He looked over his shoulder, catching his girlfriend licking some of the filling from her finger. A smile lit up her face, and as the sunlight illuminated the room in a picture-perfect moment, Adrien felt fire flood his heart.</p>
<p>"Love you too, my lovely Lady."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspo: "Raining Sunshine" by Miranda Cosgrove. It's the song that gives me Adrinette vibes all around, and when I hear it, I think of this side of the Love Square. Adrien's the Sunshine Child; they had a moment when it was raining; the thing with the umbrella... It fits well, so I think it's going to be my main inspo for this collection.</p>
<p>Not much else to say for now, but I hope you all enjoyed! Up next is "#marinettechallenge"! I don't have too much planned for it, so it may be a shorter one, but I think it'll be a fluffy one. :)</p>
<p>Hope you all enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Day 2: #marinettechallenge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A sleeping Marinette prompts Adrien to try out the "#marinettechallenge" Alya came up with...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. Thinking of this story idea brought a goofy smile to my face, and I'm letting my impulse control yeet itself out a window for this one. Sweet fluff galore to heal my soul!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 2: #marinettechallenge</p>
<p>One corner of his mouth perked up higher than the other, and a little chuckle left him as he gazed at her sleeping form.</p>
<p>A snore came from the black-haired girl as the pencil in her weakening grip dipped further toward her desk. Drool was starting to form at the corner of her mouth, and more than a few strands of her hair stuck out in places where her head had rubbed against her grey sweater. Eyes were peacefully shut, and Adrien could only imagine the dreams Marinette was having.</p>
<p>He hoped they were good ones. For a girl like Marinette, she deserved dreams that left a smile on her face.</p>
<p>Green eyes looked to the corners of her mouth. They were a little more tilted up, and her breaths came in slow and steady intervals. If he had anything to go on, then Marinette was having a good dream.</p>
<p>Warmth filled his chest as he sighed, his heart happy that she was getting some good rest.</p>
<p>Marinette was always the one to work and push herself to her limits, and while Adrien wasn't that good at picking up on signals, he noticed how hard she had been working lately. Exams, fashion designs, the management of her fashion website, her next campaign as the student representative, working at her parents' bakery, not mentioning anything else she did that kept her early into the hours of the morning…</p>
<p>He was pretty stacked with his own schedule, though he was usually able to get a full six-to-eight hours' worth of sleep if Papillon was being generous with no late-night akumas. Coffee helped give him the kick if he needed it, but from what he saw from Marinette, it seemed like the girl pulled all-nighters on the regular.</p>
<p>Her getting the sleep she needed was something he whole-heartedly endorsed, and there was no teacher that would make him push her awake.</p>
<p>But watching her rest wasn't what he was here to do.</p>
<p>Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Adrien crept around the back of Marinette's chair, careful of moving her bag. He moved to her left side, giving what he was doing a better view of Marinette's sleepy face.</p>
<p>Adrien crouched, lowering himself to her level. A quick flick of his fingers, and he pulled his phone out of his jacket's pocket. Clicks sounded as he tapped in the code and unlocked his phone.</p>
<p>The silence of the empty classroom was deafening, and Adrien cast a quick glance to the girl beside him to make sure she was still fast asleep.</p>
<p>Another soft snore left Marinette, her chest dipping and rising with each slow breath.</p>
<p>Heat flooded his chest, and Adrien's smile grew a little bit softer. Marinette was really cute, and he really hoped that whoever she chose as her partner would treat her right.</p>
<p>He leaned close, catching a bit of the peppermint smell from her skin. Adrien held out his phone, the camera in selfie mode, and with an over-exaggerated roll of his eyes, he posed for the perfect picture. A small click sounded as the picture disappeared into the Camera Roll.</p>
<p>The blonde boy hummed as he tapped at the roll. His brow furrowed as he studied the picture, a bit of his cheek catching between his teeth.</p>
<p>No, this wasn't a good picture. It looked like he was annoyed with Marinette sleeping, and that wasn't the case at all. Adrien wanted her to sleep, and he could only imagine how crushed she'd be if she woke up and found his annoyed look on her phone.</p>
<p>He pulled up the camera again, tapping a finger to his chin as he pondered the perfect pose. Maybe he could make a silly face?</p>
<p>The model crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, tapping the white circle before he thought it through.</p>
<p>Nope, that didn't feel right either.</p>
<p>"Hm…"</p>
<p>Marinette shifted beside him, her eyes cracking open just a bit. Murmurs, indistinguishable to Adrien's ears, dribbled from her lips as her eyelids drooped shut again.</p>
<p>Then, a good idea for a picture hit him.</p>
<p>Adrien chuckled softly as he held out his phone and tilted his body. His finger hovered over the white circle, and as he moved close to Marinette, he carefully made sure that he was an inch or two away from her skin. Once he was close enough, he closed his eyes, relaxed his face, and tapped the button.</p>
<p>The moment the click sounded, he moved away, eyes looking back to make sure the girl was still asleep.</p>
<p>After a few moments, Marinette oblivious to the world around her, Adrien pulled up Instagram on his phone. With a practiced move, the model pulled up the most recent picture into a possible post. His fingers tapped out a quick caption, filling out the hashtag along with it, and as he tapped the "Direct Tag" section, he typed in Marinette's name. Once everything was filled in and looked good, Adrien hit "Share," a sly smile growing on his face.</p>
<p>It looked as if he was leaning against Marinette, using her as a pillow to sleep on. Both teens looked peacefully asleep in the photo, if one didn't see Adrien's obvious arm out of the corner of the photo.</p>
<p>'<em>A sleeping princess that definitely needs the rest. Heck, I could use some rest too! Move over, Marinette, you're hogging all the good desk space. Though, with all seriousness, I hope you had a good nap, Marinette, and thank you Alya for the #marinettechallenge idea!'</em></p>
<p>As he put his phone away, Marinette murmured. Adrien caught the furrow of her eyebrows, and her mouth curved into a troubled frown.</p>
<p>He couldn't leave her like this, now could he?</p>
<p>Fingers plucked the pencil out of her hand, and his other hand smoothed over some of the frizzy hair on her head. A soft smile rose as he pulled at the top of her notebook, moving her newest design out of the way of her mouth in case any drool dripped down.</p>
<p>When he was all done making sure she wasn't going to harm anything she was working on, he gently patted a hand to her back, yet again careful not to wake her from her rest. "Sleep well, purrincess," he whispered, straightening up from his crouch.</p>
<p>Her mouth twitched, and as if she could hear him, the corners of her mouth lifted back up.</p>
<p>It took all his power not to laugh at the cute gesture. He shook his head, worked his way back around the back of her chair, and stepped down the stairs to grab his bag from his desk seat. His ride was no doubt outside already, and he had Chinese lessens to get to.</p>
<p>Before he ducked out the door, he cast one last look at his sleeping classmate. Hopefully she would get the rest she needed.</p>
<p>Adrien gave a small wave to the sleeping girl, whispering a "Bye, Marinette!" before he finally left the empty classroom.</p>
<p>And once she finally woke up, she'd have quite the surprise on her phone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspo: "Stay My Baby" by Miranda Cosgrove. Kinda on a kick with her music right now, and her songs give me some pretty strong Adrinette vibes, so I figure I'll stick with it for as long as the inspiration is there.</p>
<p>I had fun writing out all this fluff. Gotta love a goofball fooling around with his (currently) girl friend.</p>
<p>Up next, a mouse makes her appearance, and I'm pumped to write out such an interaction between her and Adrien! It may be a short one, but we'll see how it turns out.</p>
<p>Until then, I hope you all enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Day 3: Multimouse and Adrien</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adrien's in trouble! Ladybug is away, but luckily, the new mouse hero she brought on is around to help...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. Hey, hey, my favorite side transformation of Marinette's! I'm glad I get to write it out for today!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 3: Multimouse and Adrien</p>
<p>Adrien ducked behind an alleyway, just narrowly avoiding detransforming in plain view of the akuma. Crashes echoed behind him as a ferocious roar thundered over the space.</p>
<p>Plagg fell into his outstretched hands, a small hand going to his head. <em>"Where's… camebert…"</em></p>
<p>"Gunna have to wait on that for right now, Plagg!"</p>
<p>His legs kept his pace, feet pounding against the ground as he tore in the opposite direction from where the akuma was. Sounds from the cackling villain sounded behind him, and as Adrien's eyes darted around, looking for a good hiding spot, he heard the akuma scream out from behind him.</p>
<p>"Where are you, you mangy cat?"</p>
<p>A slight frown appeared on Adrien's face as he whipped around a corner into another alleyway. "Hey, who are you calling 'mangy?'" he murmured as his legs pumped out beneath him. "The smell coming off you isn't exactly rosey-fresh, pal."</p>
<p>A crash and bang sounded in front of him, and the sinking feeling in his gut told him that he had spoken far too soon. He stuffed Plagg into his jacket pocket right before everything hit the fan.</p>
<p>Plant vines curled into view, and a massive mass of moss slid in front of the alleyway's exit. Adrien screeched to a halt as a terrifying and furious face morphed out of the middle of the mass. Dark green eyebrows made out of thorny vines narrowed over gaping chasms of eyes, and a jagged mouth moved as the smell of rotting compost rushed over Adrien.</p>
<p>"WHERE'S CHAT NOIR?!" the beast roared, a purple butterfly mask already forming over the giant face.</p>
<p>Adrien threw up an arm to stop the spray of dewy spit from getting in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth as he steadied himself against the blast of air that nearly dropped him to his knees. Crap, he had to think fast. What could he say to cover his identity?</p>
<p>
  <em>Come on, come on…</em>
</p>
<p>Adrien whipped his head around, looking over his shoulder as he dropped into a defensive fighting stance. "Go, Chat Noir!" he screamed to the empty alleyway behind him. "Get out of here! I'll hold off the akuma!"</p>
<p>Vines snaked around his middle and held his arms to his sides before he could throw so much as a punch.</p>
<p>His feet dangled in the air as he struggled to free his arms from the constricting plant. A yelp of surprise came from him as the plant monster hung the boy over his mouth. Tennis shoes kicked as Adrien eyed the monstrous mouth beneath him, ready to chomp him up into fertilizer.</p>
<p>The purple outline stayed strong over the akuma's face. A moment passed, then the akuma lowered Adrien to eye level and closed its mouth. Wickedness filled its smile as it stretched from one side of the akuma to the other.</p>
<p>"Of course, Papillon! Using Adrien Agreste as a hostage will certainly bring out Chat Noir from his hiding space!"</p>
<p>Adrien blanched, and a nervous smile cracked over his face. There was no way Chat Noir was going to show up, and unless a miracle happened, he risked both the akuma and Papillon figuring out his identity.</p>
<p>Man, he really needed to up his game in this fight.</p>
<p>Moss squished against the ground as the akuma ducked into the alleyway. Adrien fidgeted, fighting hard to loosen the vines at his stomach as they travel through the thin space, the vine holding him close to the akuma.</p>
<p>"Come out, Chat Noir! Surrender your Miraculous to me, and I may hold off on turning Adrien Agreste into my next meal…"</p>
<p>A groan came from the model as he narrowed his eyes at the strong plants around him. Yep, he definitely had to wait for Ladybug to help him on this one.</p>
<p>As far as he knew, she was off grabbing another person for another Miraculous she planned to bring out. He was kind of excited to see which one she'd bring out, as new Miraculous meant new people and new powers on the field, but kwamis only knew how long it would take her to get back to help him in time.</p>
<p>It also sucked that the possible new person would technically see him tied up and captured.</p>
<p>Green eyes roamed the edges of the building as the akuma rolled forward, its face moving as it looked around corners and absorbed dumpsters into its mass. His tongue ran over his lips, his hands curling and stretching as he kept watch for the flash of red.</p>
<p>
  <em>Come on, M'Lady… I'll owe you one…</em>
</p>
<p>"Adrien!"</p>
<p>A squeak sounded, and the model whipped his head around to try and find where the sound came from. Suddenly, a jump rope smacked against the vine wrapped around him.</p>
<p>The akuma roared in pain, and Adrien saw his world turn upside down as the ground rushed up to meet him. He held an arm in front of his face, but before he kissed the concrete, something wrapped around his ankle.</p>
<p>He shot up, a terrified yell coming from him as he sailed over the edge of the building. The akuma disappeared below, and Adrien swung backward in a full arc.</p>
<p>Arms came up beneath him, and a completely different girl hero clutched him tight to her body. Twin buns with pink ribbons sat on her head, and a pink-and-grey mask covered her identity. Blue eyes narrowed as she tore forward, leaping over other buildings and putting as much space between them and the akuma as possible.</p>
<p>Adrien threw a quick glance over their shoulder, but just as he saw the akuma peek out over the far buildings, they dropped away from view.</p>
<p>Familiar beeps sounded in Adrien's ears, and his eyes caught the flashing necklace at her throat.</p>
<p>A few tense minutes of running and dodging later, and the girl hero threw out her jump rope. They sailed onto the top of a stray building. The coast was clear, and as Adrien's feet hit the roof and the hero let him go, he dropped back into his defensive stance.</p>
<p>"Oh no…"</p>
<p>Adrien looked behind him, his heart dropping at the scared whimper from the girl hero. He looked to her, her suit vaguely resembling a mouse, before pink magic ran over her body.</p>
<p>The transformation dropped, and as a tired mouse kwami floated out of the necklace, Marinette lifted her head.</p>
<p>Silence settled over the empty area as Adrien's mouth fell open.</p>
<p>Terror flooded Marinette's face as she kept her gaze locked with Adrien's, and the boy's heart plummeted in his chest as he realized what just happened.</p>
<p>"A-a-adrien! I-I-I didn't- I mean-" Marinette shot up from her crouch, her lip trembling as she fidgeted with the bottom of her jacket. "I can explain! This is just a huge misunderstanding!"</p>
<p>Adrien stepped forward, calmly putting his hands on Marinette's shoulders to steady herself. "Whoa, Marinette, it's okay." He tilted his head, a comforting look gracing his face. "Did Ladybug and Chat Noir choose you for a Miraculous?"</p>
<p>Her blue eyes darted to the ground, and he could hear the shyness in her voice as she mumbled out, "La… Ladybug chose me for the Miraculous…" She shifted from foot-to-foot, unease in almost every aspect of her body language. "Now that you know who I am, though… I don't know if I'll be joining Ladybug and Chat Noir in battle anytime soon…"</p>
<p>The urge to smack himself welled in his chest. His friend's first time out with a Miraculous, her chance to prove herself as a hero, and his slip-up had caused her to accidentally reveal herself in front of him. If only he had been just a little faster…</p>
<p>"Hey." Surprise and color rose on her cheeks as he softly bumped the side of his right index finger at the bottom of her chin. "It'll be okay, Marinette." He shuffled on his feet as he moved his arms from her shoulders to his side, one hand reaching over his chest to grab his opposite arm. Green eyes centered onto the tile of the roof. "I'm so sorry I'm the reason you won't be able to hold a Miraculous again."</p>
<p>"Adrien, no, it's not your fault-"</p>
<p>"It… kinda is," he retorted, letting go of his arm and tucking his hand behind his head. "I'm guessing that if I hadn't been captured, you would have had enough time to duck into a hiding spot before your transformation ran out."</p>
<p>Marinette bit her lip, and before she could say another word, Adrien knew he was right.</p>
<p>"Aw man," he murmured as he looked at her. "There's got to be some way I can fix this, right? How about I talk to Ladybug-"</p>
<p>Marinette nearly jumped out of her skin. "NO!" she yelled, throwing out her hands. Then, almost an instant later, she withdrew, snapping her arms back to her side. "I-I-I mean, you really don't need to. Ladybug's a really busy hero and she doesn't need me bugging her to be a hero again and that's not to mention that I'm really not cut out to be a hero-"</p>
<p>Hands touched her shoulders again, and Marinette paused mid-babble. "Marinette," Adrien started, "if there's anyone who deserves to be a hero, it's you. You're always there for others, and you're super resourceful with what you have to make the best out of any situation." His smile warmed. "There's a reason you're our everyday Ladybug."</p>
<p>The young girl was petrified, and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "You… you really think that?" she whispered.</p>
<p>"Of course." He looked over his shoulder, eager to spot the streak of red of his partner. "I just need to talk to Ladybug about this. If I'm the only one that knows and I swear to keep it a secret, then you'll be able to come out as a hero again."</p>
<p>Delicate fingers curled over his wrists, and Marinette drew his arms away from her shoulders. "N-no, it's really fine," she said, a dream-like tone to her words. "To be honest, I really didn't want to be a hero in the first place."</p>
<p>Adrien's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You didn't?"</p>
<p>"I… I had wanted to turn Ladybug down at first, but people needed help, so I figured I'd help out for this one time." The blush at her cheeks deepened. "This is actually really good. I have a reason to tell Ladybug that I'm not cut out for hero stuff, and that I'm comfortable letting other people worthy of the hero status use a Miraculous to fight the bad guys." A sheepish smile spread across the lower half of her face. "I guess this is more of a 'thank you' rather than an apology."</p>
<p>The blonde boy eyed her. "And you're sure you don't want to be a hero, Marinette? If there's anyone who deserves to wield a Miraculous, it's you, and I'm really sure we can fix this if we talk to Ladybug about this…"</p>
<p>"Oh, no," Marinette chirped, stress outlining her face. "I'm good, really. As long as people are safe for now, then I'm comfortable with this being my only time with a Miraculous." Her eyes looked down and Adrien felt his heart warm as she spoke. "Thank you, Adrien…"</p>
<p>Silence hung between them before a faint bang echoed out more than a few blocks away. A flash of green flipped out onto a faraway building.</p>
<p>Marinette whipped her head to her kwami, the little creature hanging close to the large chimney near where the two teens stood. "Mullo, there's some macaroons in my bag." She stumbled with the clasp as Adrien yanked her towards the chimney.</p>
<p>As the boy pulled her behind the end of the chimney opposite the akuma, a roar shattered the silence of the area.</p>
<p>"<strong>LADYBUG! CHAT NOIR! WHERE ARE YOU?!"</strong></p>
<p>"Oh boy," Adrien said as a heavy sigh left him. "Guess Ladybug and Chat Noir are in for a thorny fight…"</p>
<p>He looked to his side. Marinette barely noticed his words, and both of them watched Mullo devour a macaroon in record time. A moment and a few transformation words later, and Marinette was back in her mouse-hero outfit.</p>
<p>She hooked her arm around Adrien's waist, then flicked her jump rope to the chimney behind them. As another roar from the akuma sounded out, this time just a little closer to where they were, Marinette dropped them both into the abandoned alleyway below.</p>
<p>The moment their feet hit the ground, her arm left his waist. "Wait right here, or run and get somewhere safe," she said, holding out a black-gloved hand. "I'm gunna go and provide back-up for Ladybug and Chat Noir, and it's best to get out of harm's way."</p>
<p>"You got it," Adrien said, throwing a professional salute to his friend.</p>
<p>Pink dotted Marinette's cheek before she shook her head and leaned back to throw out her jump rope.</p>
<p>"Wait!"</p>
<p>Marinette shot Adrien a startled look. "What is it?" she asked, her earlier anxiety returning.</p>
<p>Adrien lowered his hand. "I never got your name." He shrugged and sheepishly smiled as he looked to her. "Seems that I missed my heroine's name in the rush."</p>
<p>Blue eyes locked with the concrete. "I-It's Multimouse," she confirmed. "I… I thought that was a good name to fit me and the powers I have."</p>
<p>"It's perfect." Adrien waved to her, turning his body in a pose that made it look like he was going to run away. "Good luck out there, Miss Multimouse. Go kick some akuma butt, and show Ladybug and Chat Noir how much of a hero you are!"</p>
<p>She paused, and it took a minute for her to get her focus back. A raging blush on her face, and she waved back as she threw out her jump rope. "Thanks, Adrien." She flew into the air, the faint "Now get to safety!" drawing into the air with her as she swung over the side of the building.</p>
<p>"I will!"</p>
<p>A beat of silence passed, and then a chuckle came from his jacket. "Heheh, no you won't."</p>
<p>"Well, look who finally showed up." Adrien opened his jacket and rubbed the back of his index finger over the smirking kwami's head. "Did you have fun very slowly devouring my entire camebert supply?"</p>
<p>Plagg pushed his owner's finger off his head, then crossed his arms. "As a matter of fact, I did. While you were busy talking to your lady friend, I was busy enjoying the finer aged camembert pieces I had been saving for almost three months."</p>
<p>Adrien rolled his eyes. "Alright, taste time is over. We gotta get back out there and help Ladybug and Multimouse defeat the akuma."</p>
<p>His resolve hardened. He'd help Marinette take down the bad guy, and even if she wasn't going to fight the bad guys again, he could at least make this fight one of the most worthwhile experiences of her life.</p>
<p>"Plagg, claws out!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: "Leave It All to Me" by Miranda Cosgrove and "Everything Is Not What It Seems" by Selena Gomez. Halleluiah, a song that isn't by Miranda Cosgrove, though this one seemed to be the "theme songs to old Disney and Nick shows I loved watching" story.</p>
<p>Hope this wasn't too bad. It's been a good while since I've written action, but eh, this whole thing is practice anyway, so no hard loss.</p>
<p>As for the next prompt… I don't think it's going to be super long, but hopefully it'll be a cute one! Also, gosh dang, I gotta write a story from Marinette's perspective for once!</p>
<p>Until then, I hope you all enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Day 4: Hand Touches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>All of Marinette's favorite hand touches with her loving boyfriend...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. This is… honestly, such a really cute prompt. I don't have too much for it, but dang… this one's really nice to imagine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 4: Hand Touches</p>
<p>In the days after Adrien officially became her boyfriend, the simple act of their hands touching became so much more.</p>
<p>Admittedly, she had gone crazy over them holding hands even before he was her boyfriend. She could remember that moment at the train station when his hand had linked with her own, pulling them towards the other exit so they could avoid the crazed fans stalking them…</p>
<p>It had been magical, in its own weird way. Her eyes had closed shut, and for a split second, she had lived in the moment. Her heart had felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, the fire in her chest flooding her entire body and lighting up her nerves with overexcited jitters, her breath catching in her throat as the comforting squeeze of his fingers matched her own…</p>
<p>Even though it had been one of the craziest days of her life, Marinette had cherished it with all her heart.</p>
<p>Then the day came when Adrien became her boyfriend.</p>
<p>She had been spending more time with him, catching him on one of the couple of days his father allowed him to stay at school for lunch to hang out with friends. It hadn't been fun finishing up an akuma battle ten minutes after lunch had started, but once she had finally caught up with Adrien, her day had immediately turned for the better.</p>
<p>They had joked off the stress of their day, remarking on the akuma battle that had taken place just a little while beforehand. Their hands had slipped into each other's, and their feet were already carrying them to Marinette's home as they had done numerous times before. Adrien had joked around, showing more of the goofy dork side to him she had never seen before.</p>
<p>Once she had stopped stuttering around him, once she had finally gotten her nerves under control, she found making a strong friendship with him was one of the most refreshing things she had done.</p>
<p>Both had been welcomed into the bakery with warm smiles and pastries, courtesy of her parents. Adrien had devoured two warm scones in mere moments, and Marinette still remembered the fake, overexaggerated shocked look that had covered his face when she had jabbed at him that he was only her friend for her food.</p>
<p>His face had gone serious, then he scooped his hand in hers across the table, smiled, and said that he had been thinking about their relationship for a long time.</p>
<p>The shocked look on her face had been one hundred percent real when he asked if she wanted to date him. Strong fingers had massaged her own as Adrien and her parents watched for her reaction, joking between them that since Adrien "broke" their daughter, he would have to stay at the bakery and wash all the pans for a week to make up for it.</p>
<p>Mushy goo had been in her heart the rest of the day after she had said, "Yes."</p>
<p>Once their relationship started, Adrien held her hand a lot more often, and Marinette found that each way was different.</p>
<p>If there was an akuma attack going on, he would grab her hand the same way he did on the day they were in the train station. Strong, scared, and ready to pull her to safety the moment the situation demanded it.</p>
<p>Another hand touch happened whenever she was sad or sullen. Adrien would come up behind her, or find a way for his chest to be behind her back, and he would mold his arm along hers. Long fingers would fill the open spaces between her own, his palm gently behind the back of her hand as he asked her what was wrong. She did something similar when he was under the weather too, though she preferred to run her inner arm along his inner arm, locking them shoulder-to-shoulder when he needed the support to stay strong.</p>
<p>One kind of hand touch left her weak in the knees, and Adrien did it when he wanted to be overdramatic or use his puppy dog eyes against her. He would spread out his fingers, arm bent at a natural angle, and he would spread her fingers to mirror his, their palms and fingers pressing against each other. It also allowed him maximum use of his puppy dog eyes, and almost every time he did it, Marinette immediately caved to what he wanted. Be it another éclair he almost always regretted eating later, allowing him to do something completely crazy and stupid, or letting him pull a prank on the wrong person.</p>
<p>On that note, she was sure his father was still holding a grudge against them for dying most his white clothes bright pink. Thankfully, they had kept some of his clothes from being dyed and the shocked look on both his and his personal assistant's face had been worth it, but goodness she shouldn't have let the press of their palms and beautiful green eyes convince her that it had been a good idea.</p>
<p>Ah, but her favorite hand touch…</p>
<p>The outer sides of his index fingers lightly balanced all her fingers, her thumb stretching over the backs of his index fingers. His thumbs rubbed at the backs of her palms, and as she looked up into his shining green eyes, a glassy film coating the vibrant irises, the world around them disappeared.</p>
<p>"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, do you take Adrien Agreste to be your lawfully-wedded husband?"</p>
<p>"I do," she said, her voice shaky but loud from many hours of practice.</p>
<p>"And Adrien Agreste, do you take Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng to be your lawfully-wedded wife?"</p>
<p>He bounced her hand in hers, and a squeeze touched her fingers as the nervous energy in both the adults' bodies threatened to burst. They had done it a million times before, but now?</p>
<p>Now was the real deal, and Marinette could see the raw emotion burning behind Adrien's eyes.</p>
<p>"Yes, I do."</p>
<p>The sound of a book closing echoed throughout the small church, and the priest smiled as he nodded. "Well now, go on ahead. You may now kiss the bride."</p>
<p>Cheers lit up the church as their hands dropped to their waists, their lips touching and their fingers slipping out of the position they had been in. Palm pressed against palm, and fingers interlinked in the spaces between their four fingers. Thumbs overlapped, and as Marinette kissed the love of her life, she sent a loving squeeze to his hand.</p>
<p>He returned the squeeze, and as they leaned back, shared and shy smiles lit up both their faces.</p>
<p>Marinette couldn't wait to hold onto his hand as many times as she wanted for the rest of her life.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspo: "Boyfriend" by Big Time Rush. God, I'm really bringing out the old songs with all these stories.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I'm a little "meh" on this chapter because I don't like using a lot of summarizing (I much rather prefer to be in scenes), but this one felt like it needed it, so *shrug* this is my take on the prompt.</p>
<p>Next up, we're… well, we're back to them being grown-ups, in that Aged Up/University AU that was in the first one. The next story isn't connected to the first one, but it will take place in a similar universe. Ahh, I'm excited for it!</p>
<p>Until then, thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Day 5: Statue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Aged-Up/University AU. While working in Marinette's studio, the two of them take a short walk down memory lane...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. I didn't want to do a rewrite of the statue scene (then I'd have to watch the episode again, and I just wasn't feeling it), so I figured I'd try something different instead.</p>
<p>Featured AU: Aged Up/University AU</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 5: Statue</p>
<p>"Stay still, you big goof!"</p>
<p>Adrien hopped on his feet, dodging another jabbing pin. "M'Lady, do you have to wield those pins with such accuracy? I know I'm supposed to stay still, that is the <em>point</em> of the matter."</p>
<p>Another sharp little prick stung his butt.</p>
<p>"Owch!"</p>
<p>Marinette moved around Adrien, and a wicked smile spread across her face. She palmed the pin cushion in her hand, quickly putting away the offending pin and twirling the end of the tape ruler hanging over her neck. "Whoops, my hand slipped," she teased, watching her boyfriend rub his rear. "Besides, no terrible puns while the designer is working her magic."</p>
<p>Adrien cocked an eyebrow, his tongue darting out to point at Marinette before sliding back into his mouth. "M'Lady, I know you love me for my terrible puns."</p>
<p>The evil grin on her face tipped him off, but the layers of fabric greatly reduced his reaction time.</p>
<p>She playfully jabbed a pin at him, not quite touching him with the sharp edge. "<em>Point</em> taken," she said, the tease in her tone at maximum quantity.</p>
<p>"Hey!" Adrien waggled his finger. He couldn't stop one corner of his mouth from lifting higher than the other. "I thought there were to be no bad puns while the designer was working!"</p>
<p>"Hm, but I wasn't working. I was distracted with my model's fidgety nature."</p>
<p>The blonde crossed his arms over his chest, the fabric balling up like a cloak, and sighed overdramatically. "You and your inarguable logic…"</p>
<p>Both of them looked down, shook their heads, and chuckled at the other.</p>
<p>All around them, Marinette's studio glowed in the soft lights. Darkness showed outside the windows, a blanket of stars around a crescent moon, but the studio's lighting allowed for easy lighting on the eyes and full vision for work. Other projects crowded Marinette's worktables, and the current design she was working on sat on the floor beside them, the sketchbook opened to the exact page it was on.</p>
<p>Adrien shifted on his feet, careful to keep himself from falling off the modelling stand. Marinette carefully hopped off the little, circular stage, running her free hand over her hair. Fingers hit the messy bun at the top back of her head, and as she looked over the design yet again, she looked up to find her boyfriend playing around with the large amount of fabric.</p>
<p>"Adrien."</p>
<p>He heavy-breathed, lowering the pitch of his voice and rasping his words. His fingers curled around an invisible sword, and as his sleeves drooped down toward the floor, he mockingly called out, "'No, Luke, <em>I</em> am your father!'"</p>
<p>Marinette snorted. "Alright, Darth Adrien, can you use the Force to stay still for one moment?"</p>
<p>"Hm…" He broke his pose, lifting a finger to tap against his chin in a dramatic fashion. "I may need to think about this one. The Force is not to be used willy-nilly…"</p>
<p>"Well, I do need you to stay as still as you can while I pin up the places the outfit will take its shape in." Hands pressed to hips as Marinette scrunched up her nose and concentrated. "What will get Mister Adrien Agreste to stay still…?"</p>
<p>"Hm, how about some delicious croissants made by the most wonderful woman in the world?" he asked, hope painting his words.</p>
<p>"Nope. Eating will get crumbs all over the place, and you'll be moving your hand to your mouth." Marinette tilted her head, scrutinizing her boyfriend who only shrugged his shoulders in return. She wracked her brain, searching for the perfect answer that would allow them to get the work done and keep Adrien still enough for a relatively long period of time…</p>
<p>A faint memory, one she had repressed a long while ago, faded into her consciousness.</p>
<p>Laughter came from Adrien as he crossed his arms and stared at the disgusted expression on Marinette's face. "Oh, I know that look." He cracked a smile, canines flashing in the studio lights. "Alright, what gross memory is it?"</p>
<p>Marinette chewed her cheek for a moment, then sighed. "Remember the day you pulled the 'statue prank' on me?"</p>
<p>The wince the model gave was something Marinette connected with on a spiritual level. "Ugh, yeah, definitely a gross memory. Why did I keep up that prank for so long?! There was literally no reason to, and in the end, it wasn't funny in the slightest."</p>
<p>Marinette groaned, the back of her hand and her free hand covering her eyes. "Oh yeah, and don't forget how I acted. <em>Not</em> a good time to remember…"</p>
<p>"Why this memory, M'Lady? You're going to torture me with terrible memories to get me to stay still?"</p>
<p>"Nope." She stepped back onto the stand, tapping his arms with her hand. "What you're going to do is pretend to be a statue again."</p>
<p>A smirk grew on his face as he watched her duck around him. "You know, you could have just told me you wanted me to be as still as a statue."</p>
<p>Muted chuckles left Marinette as she stepped in front of him. "Figured I'd let you share in the pain of the memory, mon chatton."</p>
<p>Pink darted out of his mouth again, and his eyes screwed shut as he poured all of his effort into sticking his tongue out at his girlfriend.</p>
<p>Marinette rolled her eyes as she held up her pin cushion again. "Alright, enough time playing around. The sooner we get this done, the faster we'll get to cuddle up on the couch and eat ice cream while watching <em>Paris' New Talent</em>."</p>
<p>Adrien threw a two-fingered salute, smile widening as he dropped his arms to his sides. "Okay, okay… what pose do you want me in?"</p>
<p>"Flex your arms for me, like you're Hercules."</p>
<p>"My, my," Adrien cooed as he bent his arms at the elbows, biceps tightening as he formed fists beside his head. "If you wanted to see me flex, M'Lady, you don't need to force me to be a statue."</p>
<p>"Ah, ah, ah!" Marinette hurried around her model, quick to start the process of pining up the fabric. "Absolutely no moving now! You're a still, rock statue that won't move no matter what happens, even if a pin pricks your skin by mistake."</p>
<p>Adrien stayed still, but Marinette caught the hushed, "Aw man…"</p>
<p>The process went a lot faster once she added in a points system. Adrien was just as competitive as she was when it came to games, and she factored in points when he held out for as long as she needed him to but subtracted when he failed to keep his pose. Piece by piece, the fabric was pinned up, and excess fabric was marked with measurements. Marinette kept joking with her boyfriend to keep him from getting too bored, but when she wasn't, little mutterings of the measurements filled the space between them.</p>
<p>Once everything was marked up and recorded, Marinette helped Adrien out of the swathes of fabric.</p>
<p>The model sighed as he stretched his arm behind his head. "Thank you so much, my lovely lady. The massive sleeves were just starting to get annoying to move around with."</p>
<p>Marinette hurried the mass of fabric to one of her clean workbenches and plopped the material onto the table. With a relieved sigh, she made sure nothing would harm the fabric, then turned to her boyfriend. "I don't know about you, but I think that's enough for tonight. Ice cream and <em>Paris' New Talent</em>?"</p>
<p>Adrien chuckled, ruffling a hand through his short hair. "It's like you can read my mind, M'Lady. And hey, we got another good thing out of this."</p>
<p>The strap of her bag hooked over her shoulder, and she grabbed Adrien's hand as she led them to the door of the studio. "Oh? And what would that be, chatton?"</p>
<p>"We don't have to remember the 'statue prank' anytime one of us needs to be a statue."</p>
<p>"Ugh!" A hand pushed against his arm. "Bringing up bad memories again!"</p>
<p>"And ever replacing them with better ones." Adrien flashed her a cocky grin, sliding his arm under hers as if he was a prince leading her to a ballroom dance. "Come on, my love. Let's head home."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspo: "Tiny Little Bows" by Carly Rae Jepson. Ah, this one's a really cute one, and I love a lot of Carly's other songs. "Call Me Maybe" will probably make its appearance at some point, but for now, a little love to a pretty underrated song.</p>
<p>I'm also in no way a designer, so this probably doesn't follow the usual procedures designers would take to prep their clothes. Other than that… yeah. The Statue Scene was a thing. I didn't cringe at it ("Backwarder" took the cake and triggered me on a different level), but oof, not a fun scene to look back on.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, up next we have a Snek Boi and Marinette! Hmm, I might do something like what I did with Multimouse… who knows, maybe something else will happen. *shrug*</p>
<p>Until then, thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Day 6: Aspik and Marinette</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Continuation of Chapter 3. This time, Marinette's in trouble with the akuma! And something like before, a new hero comes to her aid...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. Here's to hoping this one isn't as long as the third prompt's story.</p>
<p>Also, this is indeed connected to "Day 3: Multimouse and Adrien". A "Part 2" if you will, so if you don't remember that story, it's recommended that you skim over it for a quick refresher.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 6: Aspik and Marinette</p>
<p>There was no way she could stop her transformation from dropping, and even if the new hero on the field gave her a second chance, it was already too late.</p>
<p>Marinette threw herself behind a dumpster as magic rushed over her body, a yelp of fear leaving her as she threw out her arms to catch Tikki before the kwami could hit the ground. A little groan came from Tikki as she held up a hand and her head, signaling that she was okay.</p>
<p>A blast from the akuma showered the ground where she had been, and Marinette scrambled to her feet as she tore away from the open street she had come from. With a practiced gesture, her right hand flicked open the clasp to her bag while her other hand dropped Tikki into the purse.</p>
<p>"You won't escape me that easily, Ladybug!"</p>
<p>Blue eyes analyzed every detail in the alleyway, looking for a way to escape and hide away. Her hands threw trash cans to the ground, hoping that it would slow up the akuma even just a little bit. Blood rushed through her body, and she could feel the force of her heart hammering behind her ribcage.</p>
<p>"I'm getting warmer, aren't I, Ladybug?"</p>
<p>The fact that the akuma's voice did sound closer sent a shock of fear through her body.</p>
<p>Marinette threw a quick glance behind her to check that the villain wasn't behind her. An empty alleyway met her gaze, and with a slight sigh of relief, the girl whipped her head back around to face the path in front of her.</p>
<p>She just had to outrun and outsmart the akuma.</p>
<p>An extra burst of speed added to her flight, and Marinette whipped around another corner. She burst into a busy street, ducking under rows of people suddenly aware of the akuma just a block away.</p>
<p>Shouts of fear rang out as Marientte nimbly dodged around people, making sure to make herself lost in the crowd. Right now, she was Marinette, not Ladybug, and until Tikki could finish resting and recharging her energy, she would have to make sure to throw off any suspicion that she was the red and black-spotted hero.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, she underestimated the force of the crowd.</p>
<p>Once people saw the first blasts, the crowded square turned into chaos. Everyone bolted in the opposite direction of the villain, and hands swung out to push ahead of others or grab others to pull them to safety. A large hand rammed against Marinette's shoulder, purely by accident. As the girl reeled back from the force, a person crashed against her back.</p>
<p>Concrete rose up to meet her, and in an instant, Marinette curled into a ball, her purse tight to her stomach, as the crowd tore around her. Her arms curled over her head, and the thundering roar of footsteps consumed her hearing.</p>
<p>After a few moments, the sounds faded away.</p>
<p>Marinette uncurled her arms from her head, groaning as she stretched herself out. Her legs left her chest, and as she sat up, she opened her eyes to see the akuma right in front of her.</p>
<p>Sneering, the balloonmaker from the park pointed the balloon riffle straight at Marinette. The flash of his outfit, looking close to a circus performer, caught in the sun, and Marinette held an arm over her face as he leered down at her. "You aren't Ladybug, but she's bound to come save a civilian. You're my ticket to squashing that puny bug!"</p>
<p>She had given out the Snake Miraculous, which had the power of second chance, something he had activated just before she had detransformed. Was this supposed to happen? How many times had he gone back? Did her being in trouble as Marinette fit into him saving the day? Did-</p>
<p>"HEY!"</p>
<p>Both Marinette and the akuma looked off to the side.</p>
<p>The new hero Marinette chose for the Snake Miraculous stood by a fire hydrant, harp raised high over his masked head. Yellow eyes with wide green eyes narrowed to horizontal slits, and Marinette could see the tightness in his jaw.</p>
<p>"Pick on someone your own size, why don't ya?!" He slammed the harp against the side of the fire hydrant, an explosion of water bursting forth.</p>
<p>Marinette fell back against the ground as the blast of water slammed into the akuma. The villain roared as she ducked under the powerful stream and scrambled to her feet, and as she rose, a gloved hand slipped into one of her own.</p>
<p>As the akuma roared with fury and struggled to stop the rush of water, Marinette and the Snake hero tore across the square, bolting for a far-away alley diagonal the villain.</p>
<p>Measured flashes caught Marinette's eye, and as she looked down at the bracelet on his hand, she saw the snake head draw close to its original position.</p>
<p><em>No, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen! </em>Her thoughts raced, and guilt flooded her chest.</p>
<p>He pulled her into the empty alleyway, and the moment the two of them ducked between two large dumpsters, his transformation fell.</p>
<p>Teal colors ran over his body, and a tiny snake-like kwami flew out of the bracelet. Sturdy hands caught the little creature, and as Adrien Agreste leaned his back against the building's wall behind him, he fell to his rear.</p>
<p>Blonde hair splayed against the wall as heavy breaths came from the model. "Hey- Marinette-" he gasped out. "Guess- the- snake's-" he coughed, careful to aim for the crook of his elbow and not cough on the exhausted snake kwami "-out of the bag."</p>
<p>Shame curled in her chest, but now she had to make it worse. She had to fake surprise and act like she wasn't the reason she just caused Adrien to mess up his chance as a hero.</p>
<p>"A… Adrien?" She sank to her knees, her right side leaning against the wall. Wonder filled her words, and she prayed that it sounded convincing enough. "You're… you're wearing a Miraculous?"</p>
<p>The boy flashed her a shy smile. "Yeah… Ladybug needed help, and she apparently thought I was a good choice for wielding the Snake Miraculous."</p>
<p>Marinette's words were quiet. "Oh gosh… Your transformation fell in front of me, and that means…" Her eyes fell to the ground, and burning guilt fueled the apology spilling from her lips. "Adrien, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause you to mess up, and I'm so sorry that me not running fast enough was-"</p>
<p>A gentle hand touched her left shoulder, and Marinette lifted her eyes to see sympathetic green ones. "Marinette," Adrien murmured, his words matching the softness of his smile. "It's okay. You were in danger, and I would have been a damn terrible hero if I just let you get hurt. If I used my power, there's no telling how many times that would have happened, and I wasn't going to let the akuma get you. It was either saving you and overrunning my five-minute time loop or running it back again and again just to probably get me back to the same place." His head tilted side-to-side, making as if he was weighing obvious options. "It was an easy choice to make."</p>
<p>"But…"</p>
<p>"Like I said, it's all good." His hand left her shoulder, and as he dug around in his jacket, he pulled out a small slice of cheese for the snake balancing on his knees. "Here Sass," he said, dropping the food into the kwami's waiting hands. "I don't have anything else at the moment."</p>
<p>Fangs sank into the cheese, and it was devoured in seconds. "That is alright, Adrien," Sass said, a hand rubbing his belly and a content smile spreading across his face.</p>
<p>Her mind whirred as Marinette turned her attention back to Adrien. There had to be a way she could fix this. Maybe she could pretend her mind was erased when she threw out the Miraculous Ladybug cure? No, that wouldn't work, because as far as she knew, Adrien still remembered when she had been Multimouse even after she had thrown up the cure. Maybe she could-</p>
<p>"You know, Marinette… I'm actually a little glad you found out I was the guy behind the Snake Miraculous."</p>
<p>Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and her mouth dropped. "Really?"</p>
<p>"Yeah…" Adrien turned back to her, and warmth balled at her heart as she watched him tuck a hand sheepishly behind his head. "I don't really feel too comfortable wielding a Miraculous," he said, a slight chuckle to his words. "I actually thought about turning Ladybug down, but there were people in danger, and I didn't want to disappoint her."</p>
<p>The stab of guilt twisted further in her chest and beat down the butterflies she usually felt whenever she was around her crush. Adrien continued on, unaware of the forced smile on her face.</p>
<p>"I'm glad you saw me detransform, because now I have a solid reason to ask not to have a Miraculous again." His eyes looked to the ground, and color rose to his cheeks. "I know this sounds really cowardly, but I don't think I'm really 'hero material' enough to hold a Miraculous. I'm a lot more comfortable staying to the side, helping other people get away or find a hiding spot rather than fighting bad guys."</p>
<p>A moment of silence hung between them before Marinette spoke. "Do you really feel that way?" she asked, a quietness to her words.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I do." A shyness matching her own decorated his face, and Adrien ducked his head as his fingers further tangled his blonde hair. "I'm going to help Ladybug this time around, and I want to tell her how I feel once this is all over, but I'm a little scared of disappointing her. I don't want to let her down, and I feel like a coward asking to stay on the sidelines-"</p>
<p>As his arm fell from behind his head, Marinette's hand reached across to rest on Adrien's shoulder. "If that's really how you feel, then you should let her know once the bad guy is defeated." She shifted, moving her knees a little to steady herself further. "Not everyone's meant for being in the thick of battle and helping people without powers goes just as far as using powers to stop a bad guy." A sheepish look, mirroring Adrien's look from earlier, slipped onto her face. "I learned as Multimouse that Ladybug and Chat Noir can't always make sure absolutely everyone is out of harm's way, and that sometimes other civilians helping each other through helps two people save millions."</p>
<p>Adrien chuckled. "I can attest to that," he teased, quickly jolting and following up with, "I mean, I just learned that as Aspik."</p>
<p>Marinette shot him a teasing smile. "That's your superhero name?"</p>
<p>"The one and only," he shot back, following it with a cheesy wink. "Come get me if you need a human danger noodle to turn back time and rewrite mistakes."</p>
<p>Sass' voice piped up from beside them. "'Danger noodle?'"</p>
<p>Both teens shared a laugh, careful to keep the noise from carrying too much. Marinette looked back at her crush. "Guess this means we're both even with the superhero reveal thing, aren't we?"</p>
<p>Adrien rose from where he sat, reaching out a hand to pull Marinette to her feet. "I'd about say so," he teased, helping Marinette up from the floor.</p>
<p>A hiss sounded close to the alleyway, and suddenly an explosion sounded just a few ways away. <strong>"LADYBUG! CHAT NOIR! SNAKE CREATURE! COME OUT AND FACE YOUR DOOM!"</strong></p>
<p>Terror flooded the blonde's face, and he quickly directed Marinette in the opposite direction of the akuma. "Quick, Marinette! Run and get to a safe place! I'll hold back the akuma with what I have." He took a step back from her, scrunching up his nose and shutting his eyes. "Sass, scales slither!"</p>
<p>Teal light washed over him, and Adrien was back to being the masked snake hero. Yellow eyes flashed open, and a harp phased into his hands.</p>
<p>Marinette turned, making ready to run. A smile that matched Aspik's spread across her face, and the girl gave a little wave as she looked back at the snake hero. "Thank you again for saving me, Aspik. Good luck out there fighting the bad guy!"</p>
<p>She tore forward, Aspik's "Stay safe, Marinette!" ringing in her ears.</p>
<p>The young girl bolted through the alley, dodging into other routes. After a minute, she cast a quick look behind her. Her ears listened for any sounds indicating there was someone else nearby.</p>
<p>Silence surrounded her.</p>
<p>Tikki popped out of her bag, floating up to meet her holder. "Wow, I didn't think Adrien would want to turn down the Miraculous."</p>
<p>"I'm glad he told me- er, well, he'll be telling both Ladybug <em>and</em> me." Marinette sighed, her hands going to her hips. "He's off the list of allies to help us. He's one of the strongest people I know, and one of the most gentle and caring guys I've met." The wistful look disappeared from her eyes. "But if he feels that strongly about it, then who am I to force him to be something he doesn't want to be."</p>
<p>"That's the spirit, Marinette!" Tikki said, her usual optimism giving Marinette confidence in her decision. "We can always look for another ally to wield the Snake Miraculous. Surely there's someone else you would know that has enough wisdom and intuition for the Miraculous' powers?"</p>
<p>The young girl tapped a finger to her chin, eyes looking off to the side as she thought. After a moment, she brightened. "Actually, I think I know another guy who could take Adrien's place." She looked to her kwami, a confident smile on her face. "But we'll have to save that for another time. Adrien's still out there battling an akuma, and now that we're both recharged, we should be able to take down the akuma no problem!"</p>
<p>Even if this was going to be Adrien's only time out, the least she could do was make Adrien feel like he did something great. Battling side-by-side with Ladybug and Chat Noir… it was the least she could do to give Adrien a moment to shine.</p>
<p>"Tikki, spots on!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: "Girlfriend" and "What the Hell" by Avril Lavigne. Had a bit of a craving to relisten to "Girlfriend" for this one, so I went from there.</p>
<p>This one was a bit of a pain for me to get through. Maybe it's because I'm not the best at building interconnected oneshots when they're spread throughout the month, but oof, I hope this one was enjoyable at the very least.</p>
<p>For tomorrow's story, it looks like letters are to be sent between Mari and Adrien. I think I have an idea for how to do it without making a royalty AU (that was my first thought, but I wanted to go a little further since this is a challenge), and I'm excited to write it out!</p>
<p>Until then, thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Day 7: Letters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Two lovebirds get a little lonely while doing homework. Featuring alter egos and letters full of love.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. When it comes to Adrinette and them still not knowing each other's identities, I stan civilian-superhero friendships. Hard to explain, but you'll see what I mean.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 7: Letters</p>
<p>The sound of feet hitting the hardwood floor prompted Adrien to jolt in his seat and throw a look behind him.</p>
<p>Ladybug rose from her crouch, moonlight pouring in from the open window and highlighting her form in a halo-like way. She tucked her yo-yo to her side, a confident smile on her face as she shifted the envelope under her right arm and waved with her left. "Hey there! Thought I'd drop by for a late-night visit. That okay with you?"</p>
<p>"Ye-yeah!" Adrien couldn't stop the shock from showing plain on his face. He rose from his chair, getting up to properly greet the superhero that just dropped into his room. "I'm just surprised at the sudden visit. Any reason you swung around the block?"</p>
<p>A sly smile crossed her face as Ladybug pointed to the envelope under her arm. "Just a bit of a delivery run, really…"</p>
<p>Green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and Adrien slowed in his walk. As Ladybug closed in the short distance between them, Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Someone wanted to send me something? Why didn't they just use the mailbox? I would have gotten it eventually."</p>
<p>"Mm… you would have…" Ladybug paused just in front of him, her eyes already going to the mess of papers on his desk. The confident smile dropped from her face, replaced with a grimace, and she pointed at the stacks of notes piled high on almost every inch of the desk. "But first, I'm guessing there's a whole lot of homework you forgot to do?"</p>
<p>Adrien chuckled. "Oh yeah, you could say that." He turned, quickly stepping back to his desk. Fingers shuffled papers into a somewhat organized stack, and the blonde teen kept looking between Ladybug and the chaos on the desk, embarrassment shining on his face. "I've been sick for the past few days, and I have to catch up on schoolwork. I'm sorry about the mess. If I had known you were swinging by, I wouldn't have let it get this out of control."</p>
<p>The superhero straightened, stepping close to the back of the chair as Adrien sat down to close studying programs on his screen. "No problem," she hummed, a grin on her lips. "Where I just came from looked no better."</p>
<p>Adrien perked up, turning his head a little more to Ladybug's direction as he continued to lower the multiple virtual flashcard programs. "Oh? Were they sick too?"</p>
<p>"Nope." A teasing nature flooded her expression as she crossed her arms. "Just uh… someone studying for a history test at Françoise Dupont tomorrow…"</p>
<p>"History test?" The clicking of the mouse paused, and Adrien blinked as he looked to the red heroine. "No, there's no history test tomorrow. The teacher said last week that…"</p>
<p>Ladybug tried her hardest to hold back her laughter as the dawning realization hit Adrien like a truck.</p>
<p>"…it… wasn't… until next Thursday…" Adrien looked to the mathematics and English homework spilling from the stack of papers. "Which… is tomorrow…" His head thunked against his desk and a groan came from the boy. "Dang it."</p>
<p>A gloved hand patted his back. "Don't worry," Ladybug hummed. "I know exactly what you need to feel better."</p>
<p>"A cheat sheet?"</p>
<p>With a nimble pinch, Ladybug plucked the letter from under her arm and held it out to the blonde boy. The signature, <em>For Adrien</em>, shined bright in elegant black ink, a red heart as the dot of the "i."</p>
<p>Adrien jackknifed out of his seat the moment his eyes caught the words. "Oh my god, Marinette!" His hands covered his burning face, and Ladybug held a few fingers to her mouth as she forced back the laugh bubbling in her throat. "I can't believe my girlfriend called you over to have you deliver a simple letter!"</p>
<p>"I wasn't too busy tonight, and who am I to stop young love from blossoming?" Ladybug said, a softness to her demeanor. The "my girlfriend" line rang fresh in her ears, and her heart flipped in her chest. "Besides," she continued, nodding to the homework on his desk, "it looks like you needed a pick-me-up anyway."</p>
<p>Adrien lowered his hands from his face, the blush still deep on his cheeks. "Still, you're a busy hero, and with the fact that Chat hasn't been too present the past few days, I bet your workload has doubled. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"</p>
<p>Ladybug kept her arms crossed over her chest, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Do you want to know?" she asked.</p>
<p>Adrien gently took the letter from her hand and tapped the paper against her arm. "I'll have you know I have a girlfriend, Miss Ladybug."</p>
<p>Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "And this girlfriend may have let it slip that you used to have a raging crush on me…"</p>
<p>"Wait-"</p>
<p>"Trust me, that doesn't affect the way I see or think of you." She winked, and Adrien rolled his eyes as he grumbled. "Though I'm glad to know I had you as one of my biggest fans before we got a little more acquainted as friends."</p>
<p>Adrien huffed, mirroring Ladybug's pose. "Well, guess I get to bring out the big guns and get some payback when the time comes. But for now…"</p>
<p>He looked down at the letter, turning it over and smiling softly at the pink cat sticker holding the envelope shut. A gentle thumb snaked under the seal and popped the letter out of the envelope. The paper spread out, the three perfect folds showing evidently in the letter.</p>
<p>"Do you want me to deliver a response back to her?" Ladybug asked, dropping her arms to her sides. "I promise it won't hold me up a bit, and I can be quick about it."</p>
<p>Green eyes stayed locked on the paper. His lips moved, reading the words and a dreamy look flooding his expression.</p>
<p>Love fluttered in Ladybug's chest as she watched Adrien slow down his reading pace, eyes going from running over each word to slowly running over the lines. The corners of his mouth softened, and the little whisper her written words floated on grew more hushed with each passing second.</p>
<p>"No… I… I got it…" Adrien said, the words faint and half-hearted. "I gotta give her some payback, and it'll take me some time to write a good response. If you need to get back to patrol, or whatever you were doing before this, go on ahead."</p>
<p>She tilted her head, love shining in her eyes as she looked at the blonde boy still reading the letter. With a small, content sigh, she turned and headed to the open window, fingers already unhooking the yo-yo from her waist. "Alright, if that's what you want, I'll head back to patrolling. I think I'll be finishing up early tonight, but I'll try to swing by here before ten to see if you need anything."</p>
<p>"Will do!" Adrien called out, waving his arm at her to leave. He quickly sat down at his desk, pulling a clean sheet of paper from one of the paper organizers under his computer monitor and a pen from the cup by his keyboard.</p>
<p>Ladybug kept her eyes on his back just a little longer before chuckling and shaking her head. "Check the letter," she called back, scooping up her yo-yo and leaning back for a throw. "Your girlfriend mentioned something about a helping hand."</p>
<p>As she heard the paper shuffle, Ladybug threw out her yo-yo. She took off into the night, flying out of the window and whipping her yo-yo out to swing around the buildings by the Agreste Manor.</p>
<p>Adrien thumbed the letter again, eyes scrunched and mouth twisted as he studied the edges of the letter. It slipped, and a second sheet of paper with the title "History Test Study Guide" met Adrien's green eyes.</p>
<p>A breathy laugh came from the boy as he leaned back in his chair and ran a relieved hand through his hair. "Marinette… you're a life-saver…"</p>
<p>Then the evil gleam shined in his eye. "This doesn't excuse you from telling Ladybug I had a crush on her. In fact… I think a certain Chat has a break in his study schedule…"</p>
<hr/>
<p>An hour after she had ended her patrol, an hour and a half since she had dropped off the letter to her boyfriend…</p>
<p>Every part of her wished she had taken every long route she knew. Anything that could have dragged the patrol out just a little longer to avoid… <em>this</em>.</p>
<p>Marinette sighed, slumping back in her chair. Strands of hair stuck out in odd places, and the young girl rubbed at her tired eyes. "Ugh, I have too many numbers in my head."</p>
<p>Tikki giggled, poking her head out from behind the edge of the open textbook. "If only Adrien had a letter written out for you when you had last visited his house…"</p>
<p>Her lips pursed as she looked at the little kwami. Her arms crossed over her chest, and a grumble left her mouth as her eyes settled on the plate of warm croissants her mother had given her as a late-night study snack. "He didn't need to be so secretive about his letter…"</p>
<p>The tiny red kwami laughed as she hovered near the warm pastries. "Oh, Marinette…" she cooed, her tone similar to the tone Marinette's mother took on whenever she was about to tell the young girl '<em>You'll understand when you're older</em>'. "Maybe he was still working on what to say to you?"</p>
<p>Marinette relaxed her body, the beginnings of a smile warming the annoyed mood. "You're right, Tikki. I guess I'm a little impatient. It's either Adrien's letter back, no doubt full of love and poetry, or…" she gestured to the textbook, groaning as she ran her eyes over the dozens of sticky notes spread over the page "-<em><strong>this</strong></em>."</p>
<p>"Do you remember most of it?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, but that quick-write essay is stressing me out." Marinette sighed, pulling herself back to the textbook, fingers curling under the edges. "I'm terrified I might mess up and write an answer that won't even answer the prompt, or even run out of time before I finish! That's why I need to run over my notes again."</p>
<p>Tikki floated in front of Marinette's vision. "Perhaps you could take a quick break before you go back to work? Eating the croissants your mom brought up might give your brain a little time to rest from the history notes."</p>
<p>The young girl paused, then let out another sigh. She pinched a croissant, drawing it up to her mouth and taking a small bite. Crumbs dropped to her desk as she closed her eyes and relaxed.</p>
<p>It would have been nice to have Adrien's letter, but since the night was almost over, Marinette resolved that she was probably going to get her response in person in class.</p>
<p>Taps sounded from the hatch leading onto the balcony, measured and playful. Tikki dove into Marinette's open bag hooked over the girl's chair with a teasing squeak. There was only one person who did that, and as Marinette leaned her head back, a massive smile broke out on her face.</p>
<p>"It's open!" she called out.</p>
<p>The hatch lifted and a blonde head poked into her room. Green cat eyes winked at her as Chat gave her a little two-fingered salute. "I dunno about you, purrincess, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave the opening to your balcony open. Who knows what devilish fiends could break into your room?"</p>
<p>"Don't you mean, 'devilish felines?'" Marinette shot back, leaning her left elbow against her desk. Her eyebrow raised, and the tease in her smile sparkled in the lamplight. "Aren't you supposed to be running catch-up patrols right now?"</p>
<p>Chat pressed a paw to his chest, dramatically twisting his expression into a wounded grimace. "You wound me, beautiful purrincess! And here I was, ready to deliver a letter from a loving boyfriend…"</p>
<p>Marinette shot up from her chair, nearly falling over her feet and plummeting to the floor in her rush to stand. "Adrien sent you?!" she gasped, eyes widening as Chat lowered himself into her room.</p>
<p>"Yep!" An envelope poked out from under Chat's left arm, and the cat hero hooked his legs over the side of her bed. "Though I have been too wounded, too cut, to hand this letter over!" He threw a hand close to his face, the chesire grin nearly splitting his face. "Purrhaps there is something that can soothe over the cut…"</p>
<p>Marinette rolled her eyes, blue irises falling to the plate of pastries beside her. Her eyebrow still raised, she plucked a croissant from the plate and held it out to Chat. "A croissant for the letter?"</p>
<p>Chat fell from the bed, landing heavily on his paw-like boots. "Don't mind if I do," he purred, shuffling the letter out from under his arm and nabbing the croissant with his other hand.</p>
<p>Joy flooded Marinette as she clutched the letter. Even as loud crunches came from Chat, she sighed and took in the weight of the letter in her hand.</p>
<p>The paper was rich and expensive, smooth and crisp under her fingers. Styled stationary with a lovely rose-red wax seal, the loopy "A" pressed firmly into the wax, graced her eyes. Slight smells of camembert came off the stationary, and as Marinette grinned with anticipation, she looked back to the leather-clad boy.</p>
<p>"Thank you for delivering this, Chat," she said softly. "I know you haven't been active over the past few days, and I'm grateful for taking time out of your night to do this."</p>
<p>"It's no purroblem of mine, purrincess." He ducked behind her, his hand snaking towards the plate for a second pastry.</p>
<p>Marinette paused, a playful smirk growing on her face as she watched him dig into another baked good. "Lots of 'purr's tonight, huh, Chat Noir…"</p>
<p>He mirrored her expression. "What can I say?" he forced out around a mouthful of food. "Shaking off the rust and getting back into the swing of things." He swallowed, then pointed a clawed finger to the letter in her hands. "But for now, open it."</p>
<p>Black hair squished against the cushion of the chair as Marinette put all her effort in dramatically rolling her eyes. "Alright, alright… Dare I point out an consistency in your puns!"</p>
<p>Munches and crunches continued on as Marinette cracked open the letter, pulling out a finely folded sheet of paper decorated in Adrien's handwriting. Her eyes ran over the response slowly, and a dreamy sigh left her lips as her boyfriend's voice filled her head. It was almost like he was there, and the vocal ticks he held came with the words.</p>
<p>One corner of Chat's mouth lifted higher than the other. He stared down at the girl, watching as she held the letter close to her chest. "He's a lucky guy to have you, you know?" he remarked.</p>
<p>"Oh?" Marinette looked up from the letter, a surprised look on her face.</p>
<p>"You should have seen him," Chat said, green eyes looking back at the last few baked goods on the plate. "He was stressing out, making sure that everything was perfect. Even with my help on some of it, Adrien was still convinced that the poem he left for you had to be as close to perfection as he could make it." Chat softened, and a loving look crossed his green eyes. "He must really love you if you make him want to deliver perfection to his girlfriend."</p>
<p>Marinette looked down at the paper, her eyes closing. "I love him too, Chat. I had Ladybug deliver a letter to him earlier, and I was the same way."</p>
<p>Silence settled over the room, and when Marinette opened her eyes, her gaze met the gentle one of Chat's. The cat hero held his arms to his side, a small smile on his face. He chuckled, a rare bit of bashfulness from the boy, as he turned back to Marinette's bed.</p>
<p>"Guess I should let you read the rest of the letter in private, purrincess. I'm gunna head out, run a quick patrol, then turn in for the night."</p>
<p>A leather belt wrapped around the last baked good on the plate, and Marinette laughed as the boy fished the croissant to his hand. He climbed onto her bed and readied himself to go back through the hatch, careful not to dirty the sheets. Before he hopped out, he looked back to Marinette.</p>
<p>"Oh, by the way," Chat hummed, the smirk growing back on his face. "I heard through a very reliable source that you used to have a huge crush on me… and yes, I do a lot of squats to keep it that way."</p>
<p>Marinette blanched.</p>
<p>"I'm flattered, purrincess, and on that note, I shall let you get your beauty sleep."</p>
<p>As Chat rocketed himself out of her room, his heightened hearing picked up an embarrassed groan.</p>
<p>"<em>ADRIEN!"</em></p>
<p>Chat's mischievous laughter echoed out into the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: Barring repeats of songs already listed, "Ready or Not" and "Hurricane" by Bridget Mendler were good songs that inspired this story.</p>
<p>This one… also was a bit of a pain to get through. Like the last one, I hope this turned out relatively okay and was enjoyable at least. I do like the idea of even if Adrinette happens and they don't know each other's secret identities, their superhero selves are good friends with the other's civilian self. It's just a sweet thing to imagine.</p>
<p>For tomorrow, a shorter piece with Mari and her hair being down! It's (hopefully) going to be short since the past two have been a bit longer than I wanted them to be, and I want to give it a similar treatment to what I did for "Hand Touches…"</p>
<p>Until tomorrow, thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Day 8: Hair Down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adrien loves when his girlfriend lets her hair down.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. The last two were long-ish (for my limits on how long I'm making these; nothing over 3,000 words -barring author's notes- unless it absolutely calls for it), so this one will be a little shorter for today. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 8: Hair Down</p>
<p>Whenever Marinette let her hair down, Adrien always found that it stole his breath away.</p>
<p>Marinette with her hair down was so simple, and yet, he loved every bit of it. He loved everything about her, but when she sighed and let her hair drop from the hairstyle she had carefully tied it up in, when she let the stress of life fade away and let herself relax…</p>
<p>He found the world aplenty with oxygen, but it never seemed to be there when his girlfriend let down her hair.</p>
<p>Adrien remembered the first time he had seen her hair down. The day Love Eater and Miracle Queen had appeared, just before the afternoon when everything went sideways, he had seen Marinette's hair down. He, Kagami, and Marinette had snuck away from their bodyguards and caretakers and took to the roof pool. They had leapt into the pool, the whole space filled high with plastic balls, and they had horsed around like the stress-free teenagers they wanted to be.</p>
<p>Kagami, as a joke, had pulled Marinette under the surface of the ball pit, and when Marinette had come back up, Adrien had finally seen her hair down for the first time.</p>
<p>Marinette had been surprised, her fingers going up to touch the dark strands free from the red hair ties, blue eyes bright with sudden realization.</p>
<p>Air had caught in his throat, and as bright sunlight spread over raven-black locks, he let his heart speak. The words, "You look beautiful with your hair down," left his mouth with as much sincerity as he could mean.</p>
<p>Marinette had blushed and dove into the ballpit for her hair ties. Adrien didn't know why she had always been so shy about having her hair down, but he counted his blessings.</p>
<p>After nearly being caught by his bodyguard, the three of them snuck away from the hotel for ice cream at Andre's stand. He remembered trying to get ice cream for the three of them, but Marinette had backed out at the last moment.</p>
<p>There had been a slight hurt to her voice, something that took years for him to realize, and her nimble fingers went to her hair, ties restricting back the soft locks.</p>
<p>That had been the first time, but thankfully not the only time.</p>
<p>Near the end of their high school years, there was an end-of-the-year dance. Adrien, after realizing that maybe Marinette caused his heart to beat a little faster than it usually did, asked her out to the dance. It had taken a lot of talking to Nathalie and his father, but after Nathalie put in a little extra convincing, his father had let him attend the dance.</p>
<p>When Adrien had gone to pick her up from her parents' bakery, he had seen her hair down for the second time.</p>
<p>He still remembered the talk he had been having with her father, the topic of Super Ultimate Mecha Strike fresh on their minds, when Marinette had stepped down from her room. Adrien had heard the click of her shoes and rose from his seat, eager to look at the wonderful girl he had asked to go to a dance with.</p>
<p>The red of her dress, complete with well-placed black accents that reminded him of his superhero friend, swished as she stepped down the stairs. Little bows and frills ran along the hem and the straps of the dress, and as gorgeous bluebell eyes looked out from rouge-red eyeshadow with little black spots dotting her eyelids, long black hair flowed over her shoulders and framed her face like a million-dollar portrait.</p>
<p>Tom still ribbed him about the minute after Adrien had seen her. The boy had been so starstruck and slack-jawed that Tom had to nudge the poor boy hard in the side after trying to wave a hand in front of his face. Adrien had been thankful; he couldn't guess how long he would have taken in the sight of Marinette in her dress, the colors so perfect on her and her face so beautiful Adrien was sure that his heart hadn't beat the entire time he had stared at her.</p>
<p>It hadn't ended there.</p>
<p>He had taken her to the dance, careful to make sure that everything was perfect as he could make it for the two of them, and they had grown closer as the night had gone by. After dancing had worn out its entertainment value, the two had secluded themselves away somewhere quiet. They continued to talk, laughing and joking with each other. Adrien had learned some of Marinette's dreams, and he had told her some of his. Future plans and deep wishes gave them a moment of intimacy, and finding out that Marinette always wanted a hamster with her future family made him feel a connection to her he hadn't ever thought he'd feel with someone.</p>
<p>And as the music had gone down, as the party began to fade away and people began to head home for the night, Adrien had asked and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. Her long silky hair had tangled in his fingers as he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest.</p>
<p>After that, she was more willing to let her hair down, and once she officially became his girlfriend…</p>
<p>Adrien stared down at her sleeping face, black strands running over her cheek. One of his fingers swept back the hair behind her ear, and as she pushed her head more against his shoulder, black hair dripped down his side. She snuggled tight to him, curled up under the light blue blanket they had thrown onto the new couch not three hours before.</p>
<p>Early evening sun illuminated the living room apartment, twilight adding serenity to the space. Pictures littered the room, some of them hung up and others leaning against the wall, the latter waiting for their turn to have a sticky adhesive placed to the frame's sides so they could join their friends on the wall. Open and closed boxes were scattered around the space, a very obvious indication that their 'moving-in' process was still not yet done.</p>
<p>Marinette murmured a distressed sound.</p>
<p>Adrien ran a gentle thumb over the left side of her forehead, sweeping back more of the soft hair. "Hey," he whispered. "It's okay, Marinette. I'm right by your side, and I won't let anything hurt you."</p>
<p>The frown on her face drew back to its neutral form, a long sigh leaving the sleeping girl's mouth. Adrien felt her relax against him, and as he hooked his left arm around her, he smiled. His lips pressed a gentle kiss to her hairline, and as the scent of peppermint filled his nose, he hugged Marinette tight to him.</p>
<p>Once she had officially become his girlfriend, her untied hair was one of the most beautiful things he loved about her, and he never failed to be taken aback by the beauty held in the simple way her hair floated down her shoulders.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: "Touch It" by Ariana Grande (the "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius" version) and "Doubt" by Twenty-One Pilots. Admittedly I didn't want to include any angst songs in this collection, but I got a strong craving to listen to "Doubt" halfway through writing this, so I went with my gut and wrote to it.</p>
<p>Not a big fan of how this turned out, but it's done so *shrug*. I've done monthly challenges before, so I know that I'm not going to be hyped about everything I write. Nonetheless, I had a good bit of fun writing this out!</p>
<p>Up next… well, I'm going to be changing it up a bit. I dislike that I won't be following the exact prompt, but I think it'll be better for my mental health overall, and since 'bettering my mental health, even slightly' is the goal for this collection, I think doing something different will be better for me. We'll see how it turns out…</p>
<p>Until then, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed the day's chapter! :D</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Day 9: Alternate Timeline/Universe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Flower Shop/Tattoo Shop AU with a dash of Reverse Crush AU. Marinette goes to visit the cheery new flower shop that just set up next door to her tattoo parlor...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(Okay, a bit of an extra note for this one.</p>
<p>I think the prompt is referencing "Chat Blanc"s alternate timeline. The problem with that is, while I can make a passing mention to the episode, I cannot 'be' in CB. The episode is one of the numerous reasons why both my mental and emotional health are on fire, and I emotionally cannot handle watching/thinking about the episode again.</p>
<p>This collection is meant to help me feel better and pick me out of the dumps, so because doing something within CB will destroy me, I want to change the prompt. Instead of the alternate timeline, or any alternate timeline, I'm going to do an alternate universe.</p>
<p>I'm sorry I'm not filling in the prompt correctly for the day. My mental health hasn't been the same since November, and since then I've been doing what I can to make things just a little better. Switching out the prompt will do that, and I would rather switch out a prompt and write more fluff than sit and write something that does nothing but make me feel down.</p>
<p>I hope you all understand, and I hope you enjoy the alternative prompt instead.)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. I promise I'll do a different AU besides the Late University Years one. Hmm… what to do today…?</p>
<p>Featured AU: Tattoo shop/Flower shop AU…. alsomaybeReverseCrush</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 9: Alternate Timeline/Universe</p>
<p>Out of all the possible businesses that Marinette could have imagined setting up shop in the building next to her parlor, a flower shop wasn't one of them.</p>
<p>The thought hadn't struck her and for good reason. Her shop was mainly black, red painted over the sides to not as totally scare potential customers away, and maintained an aura of toughness to the exterior. If you were serious about getting a tattoo, you had to have needles in your skin, so showing a tough exterior gave the faint of heart a cautious message before they tried to do something they would probably regret later.</p>
<p>The shop that moved in next to her however…</p>
<p>Light greens, yellows, and whites painted the exterior. A rainbow of colors framed the window, the flowers set up to catch the eye of everyone who passed by. A smoothly carved sign hung on the door, the "Open" elegantly gracing the light wood.</p>
<p>If her shop was the embodiment of a moonless night, then the flower shop was the embodiment of a cloudless and sunny day.</p>
<p>Marinette tapped her pencil against the sketchpad. As much as she needed to focus on the tattoo design for the client that had specifically requested it -a unique turtle tattoo that would encapsulate his Asian heritage and his personality- her mind kept turning back to the odd and cheery shop next door.</p>
<p>Pink poked out of her mouth as she stared at the half-finished sketch, a sigh following soon after her tongue retracted. Her fingers twitched, and her foot tapped against the floor the longer she stared at the outline of the shell.</p>
<p>She knew the flower shop was currently open. One of the workers had been out there earlier during her very early morning walk with her pitbull, Tikki. Blonde hair had stood out in the first rays of sun, a cheery whistle coming from the man as he happily flipped the sign from "Closed" to "Open."</p>
<p>Teeth caught cheek, and as she lifted fingers to her tired eyes, Marinette hummed in annoyance. Admittedly, she hadn't yet checked out the flower shop next door, but now her curiosity wouldn't let her get any work done until she at least saw what the shop next door was like.</p>
<p>As she rolled her stiff neck, Marinette stood from her stool. Leaving the sketchbook on her workbench, she stepped out from behind the counter and into the little "waiting room/display area." Her eyes ran a quick scan of the displays, double-checking to make sure that none of the sample designs were out of place. The pieces of paper, complete with designs that could catch the eye of those looking to have art imprinted to their skin, laid orderly in their cases.</p>
<p>Tikki, in her dog bed at the other side of the counter, lifted her head as Marinette walked past her.</p>
<p>"I'm going to take a quick trip next door, Tikki." Her boots clicked against the smooth red-and-black tiles. "Keep an eye on the shop for me until I get back, okay?"</p>
<p>The black-haired woman cast a quick glance to the black and white-spotted pitbull behind her, watching the dog lick its lips and drop her head back down to the dog bed. A peaceful look settled on the little dog's face, blue eyes keeping with her owner's.</p>
<p>Marinette cracked a tiny smile as she gave Tikki a little wave goodbye.</p>
<p>With a quick shut of the door behind her and a quick lock of the doors, Marinette quietly stepped over to the shop next door. Blue eyes caught the shop's name overhead, the name overhead only further driving her curiosity. A pun? As part of the business name?</p>
<p>Tingling sounds of a tiny bell sounded as she poked her head into the shop, the rest of her body shuffling in with slight hesitance. She slowly closed the door behind her, careful not to make too much noise.</p>
<p>The numerous perfumes flowers produced drifted through the air, a fresh and sweet smell that hung over the bright room. If Marinette had thought that the windows had an overabundant rainbow of colors, then the shop was a nuclear fallout of natural beauty. Every flower was coordinated into pleasant sections, organized by species, color, and bouquet pattern.</p>
<p>"<em>Mew."</em></p>
<p>Marinette looked down, eyes dropping from the beautiful flowers to the pale green-tiled floor beneath her.</p>
<p>A black cat, eyes the same deep green as the leaves under the vibrant petals, sat just in front of her. Slow blinks followed as a few beats of silence passed, the little kitten staring calmly at the woman.</p>
<p>Marinette cracked a little smile as she crouched, holding out a gentle finger. "Are you the owner?" she asked, a hidden laugh to her words.</p>
<p>The black cat lifted to its legs, craning out its neck to sniff her finger.</p>
<p>"It's a pleasure to meet you too."</p>
<p>"Hey, Plagg? Did someone come in?" A male voice drifted out from a door behind the counter. "Let them know that I'll be out in a moment! I just need to finish this order."</p>
<p>A little mew left the cat's mouth as he stared up at Marinette, seemingly passing along the message.</p>
<p>The goofy grin was on Marinette's mouth before she could stop it. "Take your time!" she called back as she let Plagg sniff her fingers just a little longer.</p>
<p>Plagg, after getting a good sniff of her fingers to check for whatever he was looking for, pushed his body against Marinette's jeaned knee. Bits of fluff stuck to the pant leg, and Marinette chuckled as she pictured the frenzy Tikki would be in once she got back to her shop. "You… are going to be… a little problem… aren't you?" With each little pause, she ran her hand over the cat's back, scratching just a little by the base of Plagg's tail.</p>
<p>Purrs rumbled from the kitten's chest, and Plagg's eyes stayed closed longer between each blink.</p>
<p>After a few minutes of giving the little kitten love and attention, Marinette picked up shuffling sounds from the back room.</p>
<p>"I'm so sorry about that!" The male voice grew louder as the shuffling grew closer. "Usually I wouldn't leave the front unattended, but this order is important and I couldn't risk Plagg trying to eat the bouquet before-"</p>
<p>The words halted completely.</p>
<p>Marinette looked up from Plagg, rising from her crouch. She saw a blonde man, his handsome features frozen in a weird sort of shock. A black apron with lime-green accents covered his soft clothes, clippers and other plant-caring instruments stuffed in the large pockets. His mouth hung slightly open, emerald green eyes as wide as dinner plates.</p>
<p>She smiled nervously and gave a little wave. "Uh… hello? I'm Marinette, owner of the tattoo shop next door."</p>
<p>The man blinked, and Marinette caught a weighty swallow run down his throat as he ran a hand through his golden hair. "OH! I was expecting someone to come over eventually-" His eyes lit up in terror as he held up his hands. "No-no-not that I've been expecting you- That sounds really weird- Ugh!"</p>
<p>He shook his head, looking down at the floor. After a slow, deep breath, he lifted his head and calmly stepped out from behind the counter. Plagg dodged around the man's feet, the blonde cautious about where his kitten was. He held out a large hand as he drew close to Marinette, a nervous smile on his face.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry if I sound weird. Haven't had too much practice in social situations. I'm Adrien, by the way."</p>
<p>Marinette relaxed, shaking the hand outstretched to her. "No worries, and I know the feeling. I've tripped over more than just my words in social situations and I'm still trying to get the hang of it."</p>
<p>Adrien smiled, warmth filling his irises as he held onto her hand. A moment passed, then he gave small jolt as his hand dropped from hers. "Oh… well, I guess you've already met Plagg."</p>
<p>Said cat in question hopped onto the counter and eyed the green leaves from one of the bouquets hungrily.</p>
<p>"Hey, hey! You promised you wouldn't nibble on the leaves anymore!"</p>
<p>As if the cat could understand him, Plagg flicked his tail and turned to the small food bowl just behind the elaborate bouquet, leaning down to chow down on kibble.</p>
<p>Adrien sighed, shaking his head, then turned back to Marinette. "He's a handful, but I wouldn't trade him <em>fur</em> the world," he said, a slight tease in his tone.</p>
<p>"A punny kind of guy, huh?" One corner of Marinette's mouth lifted higher than the other as a bashful expression appeared on the blonde's face.</p>
<p>"Ye-yup." He looked to the side and put a nervous hand behind his head. "It's dorky, I know…"</p>
<p>Marinette eyed him, her tone matching the teasing tone Adrien had earlier. "I never said I didn't like it…"</p>
<p>Deep red rose on Adrien's cheeks as he stuttered to come up with a response. After a moment of struggle, he waved his hand and backed up from her. "I-I-I… Er, why don't you come in just a little more? I'd hate to keep you pressed against the door like I'm going to throw you out at any minute."</p>
<p>He turned as Marinette stepped further into the flower shop, the man ducking and wildly searching for something Marinette didn't know.</p>
<p>"Actually, I was here for a quick visit to say hi," Marinette said. "My curiosity got the better of me, and I figured stopping by for a few minutes wouldn't hurt." She chuckled as she watched Adrien hurry his search, little mutterings coming from the blonde as he looked over each display with slight anxious fervor. "I have to head back to my shop in a moment to finish up a design, but I wouldn't mind visiting again soon…"</p>
<p>Fingers plucked a white flower from one of the numerous displays, another hand picking out a red flower from a little way away from the white flower display. Adrien whirled, turning back to her and delicately presenting the two flowers to her. "A white carnation and a red camellia. For you."</p>
<p>Pink rose on the woman's cheeks as she patted her jean pockets. "Oh?! Thank you so much, but I didn't bring my money over with me. I can pay you back later-"</p>
<p>Adrien awkwardly shuffled on his feet, the deep blush on his cheeks growing redder. "Actually, these are on the house." He looked away, holding out the flowers. "No worries on payment, unless you can promise me that you won't look up what they mean."</p>
<p>Marinette chuckled. "Hitting on me with flowers?"</p>
<p>"Well, I'm a florist. Flower language is kinda my thing." Adrien watched as she took the flowers, a gooey smile gracing his face as she took in the sweet smells of the flowers. "I could send a proper message to you, but for now, since you mentioned that you need to head back to work, this should work for now."</p>
<p>"And I can't look up what these flowers mean?"</p>
<p>"Nope." Adrien cracked a smile and gave a shy shrug. "It'd give away the surprise…"</p>
<p>Blue eyes looked down at the flowers, then back up at the boy who gave them to her. She held them to her side, careful not to harm them. "Alright, I promise not to look them up," she said, making a show of crossing her heart. "But it was nice meeting you, Adrien. I gotta head back now, but I hope we can talk more over the next few weeks."</p>
<p>"Of course!" Adrien waved as she stepped towards the door.</p>
<p>As her hand touched the doorknob, she heard Adrien speak up again. "Wait!"</p>
<p>She froze, looking back at the man behind her.</p>
<p>Adrien's face was beet red, and an anxious smile grew on his face as he shuffled in place and threw a hand behind his head. "This is really embarrassing… But could you tell me your name one more time? …I… kinda… blanked a bit over that part."</p>
<p>Marinette turned, bell tinkling as she pulled open the door. "It's Marinette," she said, grinning at the blushing man across from her. "And I'll be next door if you need anything. If you ever have a moment to spare and want to talk with someone, my door's open the normal hours and a few more. Thank you again for the flowers."</p>
<p>A dreamy look crossed his face as he fumbled with the pocket of his apron. "Sure, Marinette. I can do that and thank you for coming to talk with me."</p>
<p>With a wave, Marinette closed the door behind her, leaving Adrien to his shop. She walked to her shop next door, her free hand already fishing out her keys. A chuckle left her mouth as she unlocked the door to the parlor, ready for Tikki to rush up and bark at the cat smells on her clothes.</p>
<p>Things were going to get interesting with this Adrien next door…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: "Me Necessita" by PRETTYMUCH and CNCO and "Love Me Less" by MAX (feat. Quinn XCII). That second song was fun to listen to and it gave me a ton of ideas for this AU…</p>
<p>First things first, uhhhhh, I forgot to mention that I am not a punny person. Writing puns is exceptionally hard for me, and while I do put effort into trying to make them… Adrien may sound off sometimes. I forgot to mention that before, and I hope that this chapter was enjoyable nonetheless.</p>
<p>Also on that note, this AU feels really sweet and I see a little bit of potential in this. If I feel up for it, I may come back to this and flesh this out into a bigger story {a HARD maybe for those that know how my promises fall through}, but for now, I had fun writing this out.</p>
<p>Up next is the topic of charm bracelets! I don't know if I might do something like the last chapter or if I might do something with a couple scenes, but fvgbhjk we'll see how it goes.</p>
<p>Until then, I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you again for reading!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Day 10: Charm Bracelets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Adrien tries (and sort of fails a few times) to make Marinette a charm bracelet for her birthday.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. Gotta say, this does fill me up with fluff. These stories are getting fun to write, and while I might not have much for today, I'm overall glad that I'm taking part in this monthly challenge.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 10: Charm Bracelets</p>
<p>Ladybug had her Lucky Charm, but Adrien had his Marinette lucky charm.</p>
<p>The charm bracelet gave Adrien good luck when he was in dire need of it. Ever since the time when Gamer had first appeared, he had held onto it, running his finger over the grooves in the largest piece of the bracelet whenever he was stressed or anxious. It always gave him the confidence he needed to stay calm, and whatever luck was in the bracelet gave him the exact amount he needed to get the jump over what the problem was.</p>
<p>A test he didn't have time to study for?</p>
<p>All it took was a deep breath, a run of his thumb over the charm in his front jean pocket, and the stuff he learned in class would come rushing back. It took some creativity after that, but any time he needed a hint or something to give him direction, the charm bracelet would serve as a guide.</p>
<p>A modelling shoot he hadn't prepared for?</p>
<p>The wood of the charm piece would lay pressed between his index finger and thumb as he would sit still for makeup. People would clear away any bags under his eyes or blemishes from his cheeks, then the luck would kick in. He'd improvise as best he could, spice a few things up when it needed to be, and as long as he had the charm at his side, Adrien would pull through.</p>
<p>Any time he was lonely? Any time he needed comfort?</p>
<p>There were a few times when loneliness would get to him. Sometimes, in the very late hours of the night, Adrien would wake up, a knot curling in his chest. His hand would press to the source, and he'd look for something to keep him company.</p>
<p>Marinette's charm was always by his bedside, and when his eyes rested on the colorful string and charm pieces, the knot in his chest would loosen and fall away. He had slept with it in his hand multiple times, and his heart fluttered every time he thought of the girl who had given it to him.</p>
<p>His Marinette lucky charm did so much for him, which is why, for Marinette's birthday, he wanted to try and return the favor.</p>
<p>"I dunno… that doesn't look right…"</p>
<p>Plagg hovered over his shoulder. Adrien could feel the teasing grin from his kwami, and he blew a frustrated breath through his lips as he stared down at the string and charm pieces in his hands. "No, it's not wrong," Adrien said, his eyes roaming over the twists of string.</p>
<p>Green eyes looked up from the bracelet he was making to the one Marinette had made, narrowing as he tried to figure out how to knot the charm pieces with the string. He plucked the tips, tried to copy how the knot would look when pulled tight to the bracelet, eased the knot into place, and…</p>
<p>The knot slid into place, messy and ugly compared to the seamless tie in Marinette's charm.</p>
<p>A frustrated groan came from the boy as he flopped back in his chair, his fingers already covering his face and running through his hair. "Nope, not right."</p>
<p>Plagg floated close, a little piece of camembert in his hands. "What's the big deal?" he asked, little chews coming from the kwami as he munched on another piece of cheese. "You could easily buy her a charm or something else for her birthday."</p>
<p>Blonde hair swished as Adrien shook his head back-and-forth. "I couldn't, Plagg. Buy her a charm when she made this one?" Green irises settled back on said charm, and Adrien sighed as he scooped up the bracelet. "Marinette put a lot of effort into this, and she deserves the same in return. Her birthday party's later this afternoon, and I won't just buy her a fancy gift."</p>
<p>Warmth flooded his chest as he ran a thumb over the grooves and the beads. A soft smile graced his face, and he sat up as he kept his eyes to the bracelet. "She put a lot of effort into making this, and this bracelet's always been there when I need it. Kinda like Marinette in a way…"</p>
<p>He looked up to the little cat kwami hovering near one of his computer screens. "I can't rest until this charm's done," he stated, determination in his words.</p>
<p>"Even if you finish the charm on time, aren't you a bit…" Plagg waved his free hand in a circular motion "-big in the bad luck department?"</p>
<p>Adrien tilted his head, confusion on his face. "Huh?"</p>
<p>"You're a wielder of the Black Cat Miraculous." A playful smirk drew across the little cat's face. "We tend to be the bearers of bad luck…"</p>
<p>The model pursed his lips, looking down at the bracelet he was trying to make. His eyes drew back to Marinette's, then back to his charm.</p>
<p>"What if my charm warded off bad luck?"</p>
<p>A hefty swallow sounded as Plagg gobbled up the slice of cheese that had been in his hand. "Hm?" he hummed as he looked to Adrien.</p>
<p>Adrien shrugged, holding up Marinette's charm. "Well, this charm attracts good luck specifically. It doesn't really ward off bad luck, it just attracts good luck in times of bad. So, what if my charm warded off bad luck to make way for times of good luck?"</p>
<p>Deep green eyes blinked.</p>
<p>Embarrassment shined on the boy's cheeks as he tucked a hand behind his head. "Er, that's my way of thinking of it."</p>
<p>Plagg stayed quiet, his eyes drifting off to the sides. Little mutterings came from the kwami as he tapped a tiny hand to his chin.</p>
<p>After a moment, he spoke. "I guess that works…?" Plagg said, his shoulders lifting as his voice lifted into the higher pitches. "Never really thought of it that way before. You could give it a try."</p>
<p>Renewed determination filled Adrien, and the boy smiled as he looked down at Marinette's charm before putting it back behind his bracelet. Eyes narrowed as he cracked his knuckles, and as Adrien worked at untying the last mistake he had made, he imagined the happy look on Marinette's face as he gave her his present.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, Marinette," he murmured as he held the strings up to figure out how they needed to be tied. "I'll have this charm ready for your birthday party, and I'll pay you back for all the good luck you've given me…"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspo: "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney.</p>
<p>Oooh, I do not like this prompt nor how this story turned out. I thought this was going to be a simple one, but then again, the simplest ones can present the biggest challenges, and this one took me a lot longer to get through because I had a bit of a block on what I could write for this. Nonetheless, the prompt is filled and the story is done for today.</p>
<p>Tomorrow will be a fun one! Some Super Ultimate Mecha Strike for our duo and lots of competitive behaviors!</p>
<p>Until then, I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you all for reading!</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Day 11: Video Games</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Who needs sleep when you can have a game session with a good friend? </p>
<p>Or, Adrien tries to pull an all-nighter and play Animal Crossing with Marinette.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. *awkwardly shuffles into the middle of the LadyNoir July crowd* I admittedly didn't think I would take this long to post another chapter to this, but HHH sorry to impede.</p>
<p>Also, I may have ditched the Super Mecha Strike idea to do something everyone else might have done lmao. I couldn't help it… I have well over 400 hours clocked in.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's Raining Sunshine</p>
<p>Day 11: Video Games</p>
<p>The moment Nathalie closed the door, Adrien whipped the Switch out from under his pillow.</p>
<p>It probably wasn't the best idea to hold a late-night gaming session with the early morning photo shoot he had scheduled in the morning, but a large part of him felt that pulling an all-nighter was a lot more fun than sleeping six hours to wake up tired.</p>
<p>Plus… with his gifts in his friends' hands…</p>
<p>It had taken a lot of talk with Nathalie. She had been wary about covering up the purchases, about filing them under a different kind of cheese name, but with a liberal use of his puppy dog eyes and numerous promises to keep his grades up (along with a short PowerPoint presentation Alya had helped him make), he had gotten her to warm to his idea.</p>
<p>His father was a millionaire. Adrien could order tons of cheese, all different flavors and kinds, at the drop of a hat. Buying a few game consoles for some of his closest friends that didn't have the hundreds of Euros to drop on a new system and game was a drop in the bucket in the Agreste pool of wealth. It cost more to feed Plagg on a daily basis than it did buying the game systems.</p>
<p>Which is why, when Nathalie sighed and finally said yes, Adrien had been over the moon with joy.</p>
<p>Adrien nabbed his phone and headphones from his nightstand, throwing a quick glance to the closed door to make sure Nathalie was fully gone. As Plagg shuffled onto the pillow on the other side of the bed, invisible to the eye with the black pillowcases, Adrien pushed his headphones into his ears and unlocked his phone.</p>
<p>So, he couldn't leave the house that often? He could work around that.</p>
<p>Back before he had gone to school, he hadn't had many friends to play online video games with, and randomly generated teams had always left him nervous and on edge. Now, he had friends, and with friends came the ability to play games with them.</p>
<p>He tapped the Switch's power button, and a little gray cat with heterochromia, glasses, and a streak of blonde hair toddled around the newly furnished Plaza. Night blanketed the tiny character, giving the square a serene feel to the setting.</p>
<p>Adrien grinned as he pushed the A button.</p>
<p>The game booted up to where he had last left off. His character, one that had blonde hair similar to his own and a shirt that was exactly like the one he always wore, stepped out of the three-roomed house. Golden light shone from the inside of the little home, and Adrien stayed still for a moment, the date and time flashed on the lower left of the screen.</p>
<p>Apparently, "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" was the new game everyone had been talking about over late February. He had heard Marinette talking about it to Alya one day at school. The dark-haired girl had been ecstatic, her mouth moving faster than her words could keep up, and Adrien didn't have to guess that she was a huge fan of the series.</p>
<p>He had thought nothing of it… until Marinette mentioned that one of the features was multiplayer.</p>
<p>Then he had done his research.</p>
<p>Cute animals, a place that gave the player a getaway from the stress of their life, a multiplayer where players could hang out on an island and have fun together…</p>
<p>By the time March rolled around, Adrien had been just as excited as she had.</p>
<p>The blonde looked back to his phone, opening the group chat app. He, Alya, Nino, Marinette, Luka, and a few other of his friends all had a server where they could chat and play the game. It was a special kind of chaos, a mess of gaming and chatting about anything they wanted to talk about, and Adrien loved every bit of it.</p>
<p>A voice chat and messaging server, a multiplayer video game, a few video game systems for some of his friends…</p>
<p>If he couldn't leave the house, then he'd bring his friends to him.</p>
<p>Well, in the virtual sense.</p>
<p>Green eyes skimmed the list of active people on the server. The irises darted back to the time listed on the game system, then back to the few people still active on the server.</p>
<p>Luka and his sister, Kagami, Rose, Alya, and Nino were all quiet and inactive for the night. Their avatars, all screenshots from their favorite TV shows and song albums (and in Kagami's case, her own picture), kept quiet.</p>
<p>It was a little after midnight on a school night. He couldn't really fault them for not staying up; they all had their own busy lives, and the promise of a busy school day within the next seven-to-eight hours was a heavy motivator to push them to get rest while they could.</p>
<p>A sinking feeling, heavy with loneliness, filled his chest before his eyes rested on one of the few people still active.</p>
<p>
  <em>Marinette…</em>
</p>
<p>He chuckled softly as he slipped into the private messages he had had with her. One corner of his mouth lifted a little higher than the other, and even as his thumbs tapped out the message, he already knew the response he was going to get.</p>
<p>
  <em>Shouldn't you be sleeping? *smirky cat face*</em>
</p>
<p>Marinette's response came after a beat of silence.</p>
<p>
  <strong>Shouldn't you? :P It's late you know</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>OH WAIT!</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>ADRIEN I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS YOU!</strong>
</p>
<p>His smile wavered, but he kept strong.</p>
<p>If there was one thing he wanted to see more of, it was a confident and talkative Marinette. Whenever she showed her confidence in herself, she shined like a star, and the model always lucky to see that elusive part of her. Adrien wished he could find out why she was so skittish around him and why she seemed to freeze up whenever she realized she was talking to him.</p>
<p>Part of him guessed that it had something to do with the "famous model" thing. Plenty of his female fans got tongue-tied whenever they talked to him, so that was probably what was causing Marinette to trip up.</p>
<p>
  <em>You didn't do anything wrong, Marinette! Just teasing!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you still playing the new game?</em>
</p>
<p>…<strong>Yeah. I've been working on the third section of my island. Terraforming's a bit rough, but I've been chugging along with my island and IM BABBLING ON AGAIN AHAHA</strong></p>
<p>
  <em>That's alright! Do you wanna come over to my island for a little bit and hang out with me for a while? I'm still grinding for Bells to pay off my recent house upgrade, and I would love to do it while spending time with a friend. :)</em>
</p>
<p>As Adrien waited for Marinette's response, he moved his in-game character. As his right hand gently set the phone against the black sheets under the covers, his thumb centered on the B button, and the little character took off running. A little move of the joystick to the left, and his character was headed directly for the airport.</p>
<p>Once Adrien had entered the building, the character sprinted for the airport's operator. More than half of him internally groaned at all the menuing he'd have to go through, but it was worth it if he got to spend some time with Marinette.</p>
<p>Just as his Switch was connecting to the internet, Marinette's reply popped up on his phone.</p>
<p>
  <strong>YEah I can come over! And talk.</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>I'll get my headphones</strong>
</p>
<p>Pride swelled in his chest as he smiled down at the phone.</p>
<p>This was a lot of progress. Marinette had been scared to talk to him first, but after a few gaming sessions with Alya, Nino, and Luka, the girl had gained a lot more confidence in being able to play with him and reply to his words with less anxiety.</p>
<p>After a moment, Adrien tapped the little Call button on his phone.</p>
<p>Beeps echoed in his ears as the little Dodo operator opened the gates to his island. Only his Best Friends were set to come to his island, and while that was everyone who was on the server, only one friend was going to take the opportunity to visit at the time.</p>
<p>Just as he played her name in his mind, her voice echoed into his ears as the alert sounded. It sounded strained, like she was painfully aware of every little thing she was going to say. "H-H-Hi Adrien!"</p>
<p>"Hey Marinette," he replied, his voice calm and stable. He knew that keeping his voice level would calm her nerves a little more. "The gates to my island are open, so come over any time you want! I'll be fishing in the meantime."</p>
<p>His character moved, and the game version of him darted out the airport doors. Little footsteps clicked softly outside his headphones, turning from tennis shoes on wood to tennis shoes on sand.</p>
<p>"I'll be right over! Just gotta drop off some stuff first, you know? Like some minor decorations I was going to put on the beach and some of the autumn stuff that really fit with the cottage section of my island that I wanted to do, and-"</p>
<p>Marinette immediately fell silent, and as the small clap echoed through the headphones, Adrien felt a pull at his heart.</p>
<p>"Hey, that's really cool, Marinette." He cast his line into the ocean, giving his phone a worried glance. "So, you've already seen what happens for the autumn event?"</p>
<p>"Ye-ye-yeah!" she stuttered. "There's mushrooms and stuff that you can use to make these new recipes! An-and it's kinda like the Bunny Day event but Zipper isn't there which is a relief because I got tired of the egg thing really fast even though the items were cute but-"</p>
<p>Another clap, and the mental picture of Marinette smacking her hand over her mouth to stop herself from talking filled the model's mind.</p>
<p>Adrien's brows furrowed and his smile fell as the fish slipped away from the lure, his thumb softly rubbing the A button. He looked between his phone and his Switch, guilt knotting in his chest.</p>
<p>It was going to be an awkward interjection, but then again, if he didn't say it, he wouldn't feel comfortable.</p>
<p>"Hey, Marinette," he said, his voice calm and quiet. "Are you okay with playing with me with just the two of us? You don't need to feel like you have to play with me if you don't want to."</p>
<p>"No! No…" A deep breath sounded in the headphones, and Adrien could only picture Marinette at her desk wrestling her nerves under control. "Sorry. I… just don't want to babble on," she breathed, worry clear in her voice.</p>
<p>"It's okay." One side of his mouth lifted higher than the other, and even though Marinette couldn't see him, Adrien gave his dark phone screen a warm grin. "I like hearing you talk, and I don't mind if you talk a lot about the game."</p>
<p>"It's kind of… <em>dorky</em>, you know?"</p>
<p>A chuckle left him as he pulled his line from the ocean and moved his character along the beach. "I won't think less of you if you blab about the game, Marinette. And I can dork it up too, you know."</p>
<p>Bubbly laughter came from her end. "You could never be dorky," she chuckled.</p>
<p>"Oh?" Adrien raised an eyebrow at his phone. "Are you sure? Cause when it comes to taking photos in the game, I can dork it up going on about how you never have the best angle for photos. Comes with having way too much knowledge from modelling. And what are those angles anyway? Really high, regular height, or a low view that works great but can't be shot from the side or diagonally? That puts quite the <em>dampurr</em> on my photo-taking mood. Plus, the filters all depend on the time of day it is for some of them to look their best, and ugh, I could go on and on…"</p>
<p>Marinette stayed quiet for a passing moment.</p>
<p>Adrien tilted his head. "You really sure you're up for playing together? I won't think less of you no matter what you want to do, Marinette. If you don't want to play, it's okay with me. We can always do it another time with more people."</p>
<p>Silence continued to stay in Adrien's headphones.</p>
<p>Guilt weighed in his chest, and Adrien poked his thumb absentmindedly at the A button. A heavy sigh, something he was careful not to do near the mic in his headphones, left his mouth as he nodded his head to his thoughts.</p>
<p>It was okay if Marinette didn't want to play with him. Being on a voice call alone with him was already a lot of progress in their relationship, and while a twinge of disappointment touched his heart, he understood. Maybe if he, Marinette, and Alya had a private game session sometime during the week… maybe then Marinette would be a little more relaxed around him.</p>
<p>He heard her take a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable-</p>
<p>"Yeah… Yeah. I can play with you."</p>
<p>Adrien brightened. "Really?" he asked, his voice barely holding back the joy that sparked in him.</p>
<p>"Yes, yes… I'm sorry, Adrien. I… I get a bit… tongue-tied… around you…" he heard a sharp intake of air from her end, and the model could hear the unease in the simple action "Well! Not just you of course! There are tons of others! Like Jagged Stone! Or Chloé's mom! Or your father! But… um… Yeah. I get my words all messed up whenever you're around."</p>
<p>Adrien winced, clapping a palm to his forehead. "Is it the model thing?" he asked, annoyance laced in every word.</p>
<p>Marinette stayed quiet, and he shuffled in his bed as he backtracked. "I mean… crap, I know this sounds really braggy, but I know a lot of fans of mine that get really tongue-tied whenever they talk to me, and they always say it's because I'm famous and they don't know how to talk to famous people."</p>
<p>Fingers sank into soft hair as he rubbed at the side of his head. "God, that sounds really pretentious… But I wanted to ask you if that was it! You always seem a bit uncomfortable around me and I guessed that it was because of the model thing. An-and you know, if you don't feel comfortable answering, then it's okay- What I'm saying is that I'm okay if you get tongue-tied around me, I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable-"</p>
<p>"Yeah!" Marinette's voice suddenly pitched, only for the girl to take a quiet moment to control herself. "Yeah," she said, her voice a lot less stressed. "It-It's because of the model thing."</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>There was still some uneasiness in her voice, but she was quick to speak again. "I-I-I… didn't know how to tell you, you know?" Marinette relaxed a bit more. "I thought I could get better at keeping myself from blabbing before anyone noticed, but it's… um… you know…"</p>
<p>He laughed softly, warmth gushing in his stomach as a smile rose to his cheeks. "Like I said before, Marinette, it's totally okay. If there's anything I can do to help you feel more comfortable around me, let me know and I can do what I can to help."</p>
<p>A beat of silence passed before she spoke again, and he could picture a soft smile growing on her face as her voice trickled through the speakers. "Okay… Thank you, Adrien…"</p>
<p>One side of his mouth lifted higher than the other, and one of his Chat-like grins spread across his face. "Not a problem. Now, come on over! I caught the weirdest fish today and I gotta show it to you! It nearly gave me a heart attack when I caught it!"</p>
<p>A minute later, green darted across the top of the screen, and the message "Someone is trying to come over" scrolled across the banner before flipping to a little airport information screen.</p>
<p>A huffy laugh came from Marinette as the yellow plane icon blinked. "I still can't get over the fact that you named your island 'Chatty Noir.' I hear he considers himself a pun master… careful not to let him see."</p>
<p>"Ah, ah, ah, you aren't so sneaky yourself." Green eyes stared at Marinette's island's name. "'Lucky Bug…' Now, who's a <em>lucky bug</em> we both know…?"</p>
<p>The plane icon blinked, and as Marinette's soft laughter filled his ears, the screen went dark.</p>
<p>After all the animations ran through, the screen settled back on Adrien's character, and the model made his character tear toward the island's airport. Crunches came from his Switch as his avatar swallowed up the grassy ground beneath them.</p>
<p>Marinette's character, modeled almost exactly like her in the real world, ran up the plank and twirled in a circle. The second Adrien got close enough to her avatar, he flipped his thumb around on the controller.</p>
<p>"Ahhh, here we are!" he whisper-cheered.</p>
<p>"You say that every time someone comes to visit…" Marinette replied, a tease to her shy words.</p>
<p>"I can't help it! I'm always excited when someone comes over." His body scrunched up, shoulders jutting close to his ears as he shuffled up to his Switch. "Oh! Oh! Oh! I <em>have</em> to show you the fish I caught today!"</p>
<p>Marinette's character stopped spinning. "Oh? Show me!"</p>
<p>With a click of the Y button, Adrien pulled up his mini-menu, diving for the massive beast of a sea creature he had caught earlier on in the night. Red, black, and blue scales shimmered as the triumphant sound effect blared from the Switch's speakers, the antennae of the fish close to touching the ground.</p>
<p>"Ta-da! This Oarfish thing made my controller shake so much, I thought for a moment that my Switch was going to break!"</p>
<p>"Oh yeah, the Oarfish!"</p>
<p>Marinette's character tapped at their chin for a moment before bursting out into applause.</p>
<p>The right corner of Adrien's mouth scrunched close to the center as his eyebrows rose. "I'm guessing Miss Lucky Bug already caught one?"</p>
<p>"…Kinda…" Marinette replied, and Adrien could already picture the pink blush coloring her cheeks from the sheepishness in her voice.</p>
<p>The Oarfish disappeared back into Adrien's "pockets," and he poked his tongue out at the screen playfully. "So, how many Oarfish have you caught since you got the game?"</p>
<p>"In total? More than ten definitely, though I caught about three or four today."</p>
<p>Shock caught Adrien's breath, and the boy's cough drew a giggle from Marinette. "Four today? How'd you get so lucky?! It's taken me forever to get this one!"</p>
<p>Marinette's avatar twirled in place as she continued chuckling. "When it rains on the island, you have a higher chance at getting rare fish." She paused, and the model forced a grumpy pout as he watched flowers bloom around her avatar's head. "It rained all afternoon and early evening, and I caught a few of them while the storm was going on."</p>
<p>She laughed as Adrien pulled one of the few Reactions he had, one that had his character bawling their eyes out. "You know…" she began, sounding a little shaky with her words. "If you… want to come over to my island whenever it rains… I could send you an invite?"</p>
<p>"Please do!" Adrien laughed, cutting off his character's crying fit.</p>
<p>Oh, wait.</p>
<p>Ah… now…</p>
<p>"Though, it's a shame you've already caught a whole lot of those fish, Marinette." The Cheshire grin was already curling his mouth, and his eyebrows furrowed as he prepared himself.</p>
<p>"Oh? I… I didn't mean…"</p>
<p>Adrien flicked the Right Trigger as he pulled up more Reactions, hovering over the Smug expression he had gotten from Raymond earlier in the week.</p>
<p>"I guess you could say it's quite a <em>Bore-fish</em> for you!"</p>
<p>Weak? Yes.</p>
<p>Terrible? Something that would make Chat Noir cringe in shame? Absolutely.</p>
<p>But as a loud groan, a snort, and giggles came from Marinette's side as his character posed, the smile stayed strong on his face.</p>
<p>Bad pun, but it got the reaction he wanted.</p>
<p>"Oh, god, don't let Chat Noir hear that one!" Marinette cried. A few more giggles echoed through the speakers as she relaxed. "He'd revoke your island name in a split second."</p>
<p>"He can try, but I'm sure I could get him to look past it."</p>
<p>"Oh?"</p>
<p>His left thumb and index fingers lifted to his chin as he weighed his thoughts. "Maybe he could give me some tips on how to make <em>pawsome</em> puns!"</p>
<p>Another snort let Marinette as her character pulled out a bug net from thin air. "Alright, that one was a little better."</p>
<p>"Told you I could be dorky too, Marinette." A part of him hoped she could feel the giddy joy he was beaming off his smile. "Do you think Chat Noir may accept me under his wing, or would he feel too <em>flighty</em> to teach me some pointers?"</p>
<p>The brightly colored net smacked against his character's head as Marinette dissolved into more giggles. "Stop!" she laughed, thwacking her net against Adrien's character.</p>
<p>"Are you punishing me for making bad puns?" Adrien hit the B button and pushed his character away from Marinette's, taking advantage of the quick pause to grab his net out from his inventory. "Ha! En garde!"</p>
<p>Her net thwacked his character right in the head as he whipped around.</p>
<p>Nets swung and wacked against their heads as both teens fell into giggles of laughter. It only took a moment before Adrien forced his character away from Marinette, whisper-screaming as her character charged after him.</p>
<p>She thundered after him, her battle shout echoing into his ears as he sipped away from her character.</p>
<p>This was it. Finally, Marinette was more comfortable around him, and if he could bottle up all of the wonderful joy that flooded his veins, he would do so in a heartbeat. As his character whipped out their ladder and hurried up the cliffside, Adrien's cheeks began to hurt from the strength of his grin.</p>
<p>"<em>Ahem</em>…"</p>
<p>His smile immediately dropped away, and a sheepish one quickly took its place. Adrien turned his head, looking up to the person he already knew was going to be there.</p>
<p>Nathalie stood at the side of his bed, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised as she looked down at the glowing game system in his hands. A small purse hung by her hip, and as Adrien looked down at one of the tapping black heels, he gave a weak chuckle.</p>
<p>"Um…" He slowly plucked an earbud from his ear. "Group project for school?" he offered.</p>
<p>Both of Nathalie's eyebrows raised at that, and her blue eyes looked over the rims of her glasses.</p>
<p>"Adrien, you have a very early photoshoot scheduled tomorrow morning." A touch of worry painted her words, and she sighed as her shoulders relaxed ever-so-slightly. "You need to get the rest while you can. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll be a tired wreck by tomorrow afternoon."</p>
<p>Nathalie was right, as she usually was. If he didn't get the rest, he'd have a miserable time keeping himself awake throughout the afternoon lectures.</p>
<p>The game session would have to be saved for another time.</p>
<p>Adrien sighed and raised the mic to his mouth, the sheepish grin still at his mouth as he hit the Minus button. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I didn't mention this before… but I have a photo shoot tomorrow morning. I got to go."</p>
<p>The moment the syllables left his mouth, Marinette jumped in.</p>
<p>"Wait, you have a- Adrien, you need to sleep!"</p>
<p>"You aren't mad?" he asked, pulling out the vowels.</p>
<p>"No! No! But you need to go to bed!" He heard her chair scrape against the floor. "If you don't get to sleep, then you won't look your best for the shoot tomorrow which could mess up the shoot and take longer for you to get to school which could then impact your schoolwork and-"</p>
<p>Adrien excited out of the game as he powered the Switch off. "I'm sure that won't happen," he quickly said, cutting off her worried ramble. "Though if I'm going to sleep, it wouldn't be that bad of an idea for you to also head to bed."</p>
<p>Marinette stuttered on the other side of the line, all half-formed protests, before falling quiet.</p>
<p>"…Alright," she groaned. "But you have to go to sleep after the call is over!"</p>
<p>He choked back a snort as he handed his Switch over to Nathalie, who turned and walked across the room to put his Switch with his other game systems. "I'm pretty sure someone will be making sure I go to sleep after the call. I'll get to bed."</p>
<p>"Promise?"</p>
<p>"Cross my heart and hope to die," he chuckled as he pulled up the Discord messages they were calling on. "Night, Marinette! Have good dreams, and don't let the bugs bite."</p>
<p>As the sound of Nathalie's heels drew close, tease filled Adrien's words. "Except the lucky bugs. Those ones are the good ones."</p>
<p>Marinette's sweet laughter echoed in his ears, and the model could imagine the eye roll she did in response. "Goodnight, Adrien."</p>
<p>His thumb tapped the End Call button and the sound of Marinette's voice cut away.</p>
<p>The goofy smile stayed on his face as he bundled up his headphones and plunked both his phone and earbuds on his nightstand. As he looked to Nathalie, he shrugged.</p>
<p>"You aren't the only one that wants me to go to sleep," he said, rolling over onto his back.</p>
<p>Nathalie's arms crossed again. "I'm glad Miss Dupain-Cheng shares my concerns about your lack of care for your sleep schedule."</p>
<p>"And I shall go to sleep to sate the both of you."</p>
<p>"Good," Nathalie replied, her eyes checking over his black blankets, making sure there wasn't any more bits of technology that would keep him up.</p>
<p>With a roll of his eyes, Adrien tucked his arms under the blankets. "I'll be fine. Goodnight, Nathalie."</p>
<p>She hesitated, double-checking one more time before turning back to one of the doors to his room. Heel clicks echoed around the room, and as light spilled in from the main hall, Nathalie craned her neck for one more look at the young boy.</p>
<p>"Goodnight, Adrien," she said, the ghost of a smile gracing her face. "See you tomorrow morning."</p>
<p>As the door softly clicked shut behind her, Adrien looked up to the high ceiling above him, his mind already replaying his short play time with Marinette.</p>
<p>Warmth spread from his heart through his limbs, and as he ran a hand through his hair, a sense of goofiness settled in his chest.</p>
<p>It had been fun playing with her, and as his eyes closed and sleep began to take affect on him, Adrien hoped Marinette would be up for another game session soon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Song Inspos: "Champagne and Sunshine" by Tarro &amp; PLVTINUM; "Lemons" by Ashley Tisdale; and "Girls in Bikinis" by Poppy (*cough* I wuv you Nathalie). "Lemons" was the one that really helped me through this, and the soft pop with a positive attitude helped me so much with getting motivation to finish this.</p>
<p>As for updates: I had no energy to write during April, and focusing on adjusting to quarantine was my main focus. May and June were spent playing Animal Crossing and obsessing over another ship that gave me some practice writing for couples again, and now we're here.</p>
<p>I'm planning to finish this collection of oneshots, though there won't be daily updates. We'll basically be taking the slow route, updates every so often, but I plan to get this done before next April! Fingers crossed that it'll go somewhat well.</p>
<p>Up next, Piano Lessons! I can see "sharing a piano bench" as a trope that I'll have to do, and I'm excited to write it out. Until then, thank you for reading, and thank you for all the support! :)</p>
<p>XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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